


Under the Trees

by CrossoverSPN



Category: Doctor Who, Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Bed & Breakfast, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Space, Culture Shock, F/M, M/M, Mystery, Romantic Tension, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Supernatural characters in the Doctor Who Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-14 00:41:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 84,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5723125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossoverSPN/pseuds/CrossoverSPN
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To promote a new movie, journalist Kevin Tran is sent on an exclusive trip to one of the most mysterious and romantic planets in the known universe. Naturally, he just wants to take a couple pictures, call it good, and go home. However, before he knows it, he finds himself sucked into a strange group of stowaways, immersed in a very foreign culture, hopelessly infatuated with one of the Inn keeper's sons, and spying on a political scheme that could lead to the death of everyone on the planet. He really deserves a raise for putting up with all this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Land of Shadows: Occulta Caelum

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter starts off with a lot of information to set up the world, but after that it will be more dialogue and action driven. The explanation makes it so you don't really need to know anything about either fandom to follow the story.

A long time ago, or perhaps in the very distant future, a man simply known as The Doctor, with the help of a grieving widow and her two children, carried the Androzani trees from the brink of destruction and delivered them safely to their new home.

The Androzani trees were also known as naturally occurring Christmas trees, as out of these firs grew ornaments of ice that shined in the starlight as bright as any electrical bulb would. However, these trees, though sentient, were also well renowned to be one of the best resources for fuel in the universe. This meant that the trees would always be a target for harvest. 

To protect themselves, the trees needed to find a home that would need them and a people that would love them. 

As humanity stepped out to conquer the galaxy, its first ‘second home-world’ was suitably named: New Earth. Naturally, as this ever-clever species spread itself among the stars, it continued its long tradition of creativity by labeling its first several colony worlds Earth 2.1, Earth 2.2 and so on, until we reach Earth 2.8, which will be the focus of our story, as it became the home the Androzani so desperately needed. 

Earth 2.8, originally labeled Aridius, was once draped in nothing but ocean until the planet’s orbit was altered, by a series of very unfortunate events. Consequently, the change baked the planet as dry as a poorly made scone, and turned it into a desert where hardly any animals could survive. Still, if nothing else, humans were always known to be resourceful and obscenely stubborn. They decided to artificially change the atmosphere of the planet and try to make it livable. 

The amount of effort this required, however, was more than they anticipated and even though 3 generations had now given it their best, they were clearly fighting a losing battle against nature, which only worsened when New Earth declared it would no longer supply or fund the cause. 

The people of Earth 2.8 were given a choice, they could use the last of their supplies to retreat back to New Earth and begin anew on a planet that many of them had never even seen, or they could use what they had to fight to the end, even if it meant a slow painful death. Naturally, being human, in the end, every citizen remained, willing to give their lives to the world they knew as home. 

These stubborn, sentimental, and hopelessly desperate people, were exactly what the Androzani trees needed. Salvation rained down from the sky, in the form of thousands of small glittery golden lights and within weeks the world bloomed around them and was quickly covered with a new fir coat. The trees, combined with the technology of the humans, managed to change the atmosphere of the planet, making the air cleaner, the temperature more comfortable, and the scenery much more appealing. 

The people saw their trees as a gift from the gods, as it was exactly what they needed when they needed it, which naturally meant miracles to them. They treasured the Androzani, took care of them, and lived amongst them. 

Generation after generation, the stories were passed down until they seemed like silly bedtime fairytales for children, designed to make the new generation take care of their planet properly. Not that those sorts of stories were necessary, after all, their entire culture was now deeply embedded in the love of the trees. Their holidays celebrated the blooming of the ice ornaments, encouraged people to spend a day sleeping outdoors amongst their beloved forest, or involved manual labor like when the community gathered to clean up their, generally pristine trees. While the people took care of the entire forest, each family had one tree they considered their ‘family tree’ that traced their heritage back, generally through their mothers, to the original settlers of Earth 2.8. 

Every major step in a person’s life involved the trees. Newly born babies were presented by their parents to their families, friends, and neighbors in front of their family tree, so that the tree could bless the children with good health. After graduating high school, the students would take their coming-of-age rite by spending several days in the forest living as the animals do and eventually making their way home through the well-known woods, their weddings were always done at the bride’s, or in the case of same-sex couples the elder of the pair’s, family tree so that the new family member could be accepted as a new branch upon it, and their funerals involved people being planted under their family tree to fertilize it. 

This romantic planet breathed life into countless tales, which more often than not, became hit-TV shows, award winning movies, and timeless novels- well there was also one hilariously misguided horror movie, but no one mentions that out of embarrassment. 

In fact, Earth 2.8 had become one of the most ‘magical’ and ‘romantic’ spots for tourists throughout the universe. Fortunately for the people of Earth 2.8, the thick trees didn’t allow for much urban growth and the actual towns, if you can call various cabins lodged here and there between the trees towns, remained just big enough for the families who lived there. Due to the common occurrence of non-natives getting lost in the forest, there were strict rules about how many tourists could be on planet at once and they all had to wear GPS tracking systems for their own protection. 

Still, the planet was ‘booked-up’ for decades at a time. The community was use to there always being a handful of tourists and welcomed them with the warmth that only small-town folks can. 

One of these tourists, was a young journalist from New Earth, named Kevin Tran. He had been given a special express pass to enter the planet in order to promote a new movie called ‘Beneath the Eternal Shade’. Fortunately, he didn’t need to know anything about the movie to write his article; he merely needed to experience the culture, get a few nice pictures of what ‘Earth 2.8 was really like’, and call it good. 

At least, that’s what he kept telling himself as he looked at the dark green planet from above, before getting his chair kicked for the 308th time since departure from New Earth, and yes he had been counting.

“Now Jamie, do stop squirming, we are almost there,” said a short, raggedy man with a suit that was clearly too big for him, a hastily put away pocket square, and a disheveled bowtie to match his equally disheveled hair.  
“Oh? Aye. It’ll be good to stretch my legs. I cannae hardly feel ‘em we’ve been stuck in here so long.” The man who had kicked Kevin, Jamie, was younger than the disheveled man; he had fluffy brown hair and was wearing what looked to Kevin, like a skirt. But despite everything, at least he had the decency to sound slightly embarrassed with his own behavior. Jamie sat back in his seat with a lack of grace that left Kevin whispering bitterly to himself, “309” between heaving a tired sigh and rolling his eyes. 

“Now, that is a right beauty ain’t it duchess.” Their other traveling companion, who sat across the aisle, was another young man with blonde hair and a bright grin that never seemed to fall. His accent was well beyond something Kevin could place, but that was only natural considering the man’s accent was from the original Earth- and thousands of years ago. In fact, the accent wasn’t even that common in its time, it was what was called a ‘cockney accent’. 

“Yes, it’s incredible,” answered the beautiful young woman sat next to the blonde man. She wore thick make up that made her eyes seem even bigger and brighter than they naturally were and her long perfectly straight pale blonde hair was something he hadn’t seen very often. She leaned over the blonde man to speak to the other pair, “You really brought us somewhere nice this time Doctor.”

“Yes, well, I figured it was time for a nice vacation.”

“Oh, because you meant for us to land where we did eh?” Jamie taunted in a teasing, familiar way. 

“I most certainly did.” The disheveled Doctor replied stubbornly, which only made the other three burst into laughter. Kevin couldn’t help but feel a bit lonely as he looked out at the planet ahead. Traveling for work always felt a bit lonely though. Through his work, he had experienced so many amazing things, been to more planets than most people could boast, seen dozens of rare sights both dangerous and beautiful, and eaten the best foods the universe had to offer, but he had always had to experience them with strangers or alone.

“We are about to prepare for landing, please return your seats and tray tables to the upright position, buckle your harness, and turn off any electronic devices, unless they are keeping you alive and have already been cleared at the airport. The time on Earth 2.8 is 5.00 pm, the planet runs on a traditional 24 hour clock, with each hour being 140, 60 second, minutes long. Upon arrival to the upper platform, you will be led to the gondola lift that will take you the rest of the way, down to the planet’s surface. From there, you will go through customs, so make sure you have your customs papers ready. At that point you will receive your GPS tracking unit and be taken to the inn. Thank you for your interest in Earth 2.8 and your patronage to Hermes Airlines, we hope you enjoyed your flight.”

From across the aisle, Kevin noticed the young blonde man and woman giving worried looks over at the Doctor. Jamie was whispering to him now, but all Kevin could make out was: “We cannae fill anything….your name…..the TARDIS….do?” 

“It’s alright Jamie, everything will be fine. Trust me,” The Doctor responded, quietly, but clearly, before clearing his throat and giving Jamie’s hand a couple audible pats. 

Kevin wanted more than anything to look up what a ‘TARDIS’ was, but it was too late, all of his devices were already off. Maybe this strange group he’d found himself surrounded with was actually dangerous. Maybe they were terrorists or something? They didn’t seem like terrorists, but then again they didn’t seem like the usual kind of people to go to Earth 2.8 either. He looked around the rest of the shuttle to see rich, old ladies with too much time on their hands, young wealthy lovers practically beaming with cliché romantic fantasies, the occasional outdoor enthusiast or scientist, and a couple family trips where the family had waited so long for their seats on the shuttle that the children were already fully grown. 

The shuttle began to rumble and tilt downwards. With that distraction, Kevin let his slightly paranoid thoughts slip away as he watched the planet grow bigger in his window. He wondered how this trip would turn out and what sorts of people, food, and culture was down there, hiding in the trees. What kinds of souvenirs should he get for his mother? How long would this whole thing take? Would he get anything worthy of a raise? He really did need some bargaining leverage. He hadn’t had a raise in 2 years now. 

Suddenly, the plane took a deeper dive into the half natural half man-made atmosphere before slowing and carefully pulling into a landing at a large platform raised high above the tree-line. It was unlike anything Kevin had ever seen before and he mentally made a note that the people here were so protective of their trees they wouldn’t even build proper airports. After collecting his baggage he finally stepped off of the plane and took in his first breath of the freshest air he had ever tasted.

The whole planet was perfumed with the crisp scent of pine, but the more he took it in, the more he noticed something else: there was still a small hint of the ocean and desert that came before the trees, making the air somewhat salty and dry. Still, it was like his lungs had never opened this wide. The air of New Earth was thick with smog and filth, you couldn’t even see 3 feet in front of you in the lower sections. 

“Wow, look at all these trees, Jamie! Have you ever seen so many? Let’s take a closer look!” The young woman took his arm and ran to the edge of the platform where they could look out at the endless sea of viridian. 

“You run around like that’n you’re gonna fall off the edge, Pol.” The blonde man shouted to them as he exited the shuttle. 

“Oh Ben, don’t be so dramatic.” The woman responded from the edge where she and Jamie were on the small fence leaning over for a better look. 

“I’m sure Jamie and Polly will be fine, Ben. We have more important things to worry about.” The Doctor said as he shuffled off of the airport, wringing his hands in worry, his dark eyebrows tightening in thought.

“The papers right? What’ll we do then?” Ben asked moving closer to the Doctor. At that point the Doctor’s gaze met Kevin’s and Kevin quickly turned away as if he had been caught creating a fake picture for an article. 

“Would everyone please approach the gondola?” A woman with bright red hair, pale skin, and big bright eyes called out to everyone, waving to get their attention. As one, the crowd migrated to the gondola with their bags close to their bodies.

“Welcome to Earth 2.8, I’m Anna Novak and I’ll be your guide as we head down to the planet’s surface. We are extremely excited that you have all decided to come visit our home and we hope that you enjoy your stay. If you have any questions as we go along, please feel free to ask me anything.”

“Are you single?” One of the already grown children asked and the group broke into a polite laughter while Anna gave him a smile that said she had head the line a thousand times, but was not about to be condescending about it. 

“I am indeed. Although, I have to warn you, our entire community currently has wedding-fever thanks to my brother. He’s going to be getting married this month.” There was a chorus of ‘aws’ from the romantics in the crowd and Anna nodded her appreciation of their sentiment before continuing, “For those of you who are interested in our culture, you will all certainly be welcomed to take part in the ceremony and the preparations. He’s going to be marrying one of your inn keepers, so no doubt the place will be very lively this month.” 

“How romantic, I wish we could get married here.” One of the young, rich, lovers said before pressing into her partner’s side. 

“Great, so much for peace and quiet.” Ben complained and Polly gave him a stern look, “At least it’s not daleks. I’m pretty sure we can handle a wedding, Ben.”

“Ye aren’t gonna cut my hair again are you?” Jamie asked Polly quietly, making her go red and Ben and the Doctor snicker. 

“I might just have to Jamie McCrimmon, knowing you, you’ll get covered in pine needles as it is.” Polly gently scolded. 

At that Anna’s voice cut through their conversation, retaking Kevin’s attention, “Alright, so if everyone is ready, please line up for the gondola. The ride down should take about an hour, but it has the best view of the tree-line, so make sure to have your cameras ready.” 

Kevin didn’t need to be told twice, he pulled out his camera and made sure he had his mini-tablet and pen in his shirt pocket, just in case. With his luck, being what it was, he was naturally assigned to a gondola with a pair of young lovers and The Doctor’s group. The gondola was filled with bickering, bantering, and professions of undying love – all of which made it difficult for Kevin to focus, but he managed to get a few nice pictures of the tree line. 

The trees were so well maintained that they didn’t vary much in height and they were so thick they really did seem to shadow the entire planet. It wasn’t until they reached under the tree line that the world truly became visible and all at once the gondola was filled with gasps and awe, even from Kevin.

As they entered the tree line, the temperature dropped dramatically and brilliant, blazing sun was completely hidden away, leaving them in a world drown in shadow, lit only by lanterns that hung through the trees; their light bounced off of the ice ornaments that organically grew from the Androzani trees, making everything seem to shimmer. They could now see cottages here and there, nestled between the trees and there were well walked paths that were lit with smaller lanterns. The thick maze of tree branches seemed to shape the world, though children could be seen playing away from the paths and cottages, in the depths of the forest. Not far away Kevin could also hear the soft rush of a man-made stream. Despite the influence of humanity to keep this planet alive, everything looked organic: the buildings, though they weren’t made of the Androzani trees, were built from wood and had mossy thatch coverings. The buildings seemed to be built into natural hills and coves, blending into the scenery rather than demanding their space like one would find in a city. 

Kevin was so use to busy streets with monitors on every major building, blaring information out from all around him. He was use to thick, disgusting air that felt overly used. He was use to his eyes never leaving his tablet, camera, or computer screen. He wasn’t use to the color green or the look of pure joy and comfort. He wasn’t use to the warm orange glow of fire. He wasn’t use to quiet. There was something about the atmosphere here that was different from every other place he had ever been, a place that felt like home. Everyone in the gondola had remained so silent, Kevin almost wondered if they were holding their breaths—they were. 

The gondola landed and a young man with a puff of blonde hair and gentle blue eyes greeted them. “Hi everyone, I’m Samandriel Novak, Anna’s cousin, if you’re wondering. Welcome to Occulta Caelum, one of the 25 village communities on Earth 2.8. We hope you enjoy your stay. ” Kevin remembered what his boss told him before he left, Occulta Caelum was from an ancient language called Latin. It meant Hidden Heaven. Kevin had scoffed at the name, but when he heard it now, he couldn’t help but admit they might have been under selling it.

“Please, follow me this way to our customs checkpoint.” Samandriel spoke with a bright overflowing innocence that made Kevin wonder if he had ever seen the rest of the world, even though the internet or in movies. He looked so, unbroken. Kevin couldn’t remember ever being like that. Would everyone here be like that? Anna didn’t seem like that. Maybe it was just Samandriel. Kevin glanced at the doctor’s group as everyone was guided to the customs gate, they had gone quiet now and Jamie, Ben and Polly seemed to hang slightly behind the Doctor. 

Kevin handed over his paperwork, allowed them to check his bags and his person, answered a couple questions, showed his press badge, received a GPS tracking braclet, and was allowed through, where he was instructed to wait with Anna until the others were done. 

He watched as The Doctor’s group reached the checkpoint. “Ah yes, well you see, we don’t have a permanent address.” 

“And your name?” The customs officer asked curiously. 

“Oh, It’s John Smith, he just likes to be called The Doctor, isn’t that right Doctor?” Jamie said pointedly, grabbing the Doctor’s arm protectively and the Doctor nodded, “Yes, Jamie. Forgive me, I should have filled that part out.”

“And your ticket numbers?”

“Ah yes, those, uhm, well…” The Doctor began to flounder, wringing his hands and Kevin couldn’t watch anymore. He walked over, “They are with me. The Doctor is an associate from the University of New Earth, Ben here is my photographer, Polly is from the production crew for that new movie ‘Beneath the Eternal Shade’ and Jamie here is….uhm…” Kevin looked around at them, his mind running with possible things Jamie might look qualified for when he noticed Jamie hadn’t let go of The Doctor’s arm, “The Doctor’s husband.” Jamie’s eyes went wide and Ben couldn’t help but snicker until Polly elbowed him. 

“Is that so?” The guard looked between them and The Doctor nodded firmly, clapping his hands together, “Yes that is absolutely right, how kind of you to help us out, we seem to have lost our press badges.” 

“It’s alright, I might have accidently put them in my bag.” Kevin lied and the guard looked them over a few more times before letting the group move forward where they received their GPS tracking bracelets and searches before being let through. 

When they were far enough away from the customs gate and not near enough to Anna for her to hear, Ben clapped Kevin on the back, “Thanks mate, we owe you one.”

“Wait, but how did ye know our names, eh?” Jamie asked suspiciously. 

“I’m pretty observant. I’m a journalist after all. The name is Kevin Tran by the way, you might want to remember that if we are going to keep this charade up for the duration of the trip.”

“It’s very nice to meet you Kevin.” Polly said with a smile and Kevin returned it. 

“So, what are you all doing here if you don’t have any tickets?” Kevin asked, his eyes on The Doctor, who was clearly the group’s leader or something.

“Well you see, we had tickets, but we recently moved and they were accidently sent to the wrong address. We just assumed they would have our names down on some sort of list.” The Doctor said with an animated smile and gestures, trying to distract from his clever eyes, but Kevin wasn’t fooled for a moment.

“They send the ticket numbers to your personal account, a trip this prestigious wouldn’t send physical tickets.” 

“Ah yes, well…” The Doctor trailed off and Polly took over, “Come on, Doctor, we can be honest with him. He did save us back there after all. The truth is, we were just wandering around when we overhead that there were some empty seats for the trip. It would be such a waste for so many seats to go empty, considering only so many people are allowed on the planet at once, so we talked to a few people and they decided to let us on. They were supposed to change the names on the list for us, but something must have happened.”

“So you were stowaways?” 

“Ye dinnae have to put it like that.” Jamie said crossing his arms. 

“Well, when the shoe fits.” 

“What does a shoe haf’ to do with anything?” Jamie looked at The Doctor who just smiled at him affectionately. Kevin was beginning to wonder if they really were married. 

“We may’ve been stowaways, but we aren’t gonna cause any trouble or nothin’. Don’t you worry about us mate, we owe you, so if you need anything you just let us know.” Ben offered and Kevin looked him over before giving him a smile.  
“  
“Well, I guess we are going to need to keep up appearances. Maybe you guys can come with me to some of the stuff I have planned.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Polly added brightly while Jamie just rolled his eyes and kept his arms crossed until The Doctor gave him a ‘be nice Jamie’ look and instantly the young man looked sheepish.

Kevin couldn’t help but smile as he watched them. Maybe he wouldn’t have to experience this trip alone after all.


	2. Tangled Branches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group arrives at the Winchester Inn.

“Here we are!” Anna announced as she stopped in front of a two story cottage, tightly embraced on all sides by endlessly large Androzani trees in full bloom. A warm golden glow poured from every window of the cottage and collided with the tree’s ice ornaments, bursting out in every direction making it seem like a thousand tiny lights were flickering all around the inn. The cottage was labeled above its large door as the ‘Winchester Inn’ with an elaborately painted, hand-carved, wooden sign. 

“This Inn was one of the first buildings in Occulta Caelum and the oldest surviving building we have. If you look carefully to the left side of the building, you can see where time has aged the cottage dramatically; in fact, only a few decades ago, a large portion of the left side of the cottage actually began to collapse from decay. However, as you can see, the nearby Androzani trees have lent themselves to that wall and built it back up strong and fresh.” Her face took on a solemn look as she repeated what must have been well known words, “As we take care of the trees, they take care of us.”

“Wait, we dinnae have to sleep here do we? You just told us it could collapse anytime!” Jamie said looking at the Doctor for support, but the short, ruffled man just smiled at him.

“Oh Jamie, I’m sure it’s fine. It’s like Anna said, the trees protect it.” 

“Oh good, the trees.” Jamie said rolling his eyes and Polly looked at him crossly, “I think it’s beautiful. Positively romantic,” Polly said firmly before looking at Ben expectantly.

“Huh? Oh, sure thing duchess.” Ben added, nodding his head and crossing his arms. Kevin couldn’t help but smirk at them before looking back to the cottage. The place smelled like so many things he had never scented outside of candles and artificial air adjusters. It smelled like cardamom, cinnamon, apples, pastry, roasted meat, and fire. It was welcoming and warm and Kevin felt himself drawn to it to the point he completely blanked out Anna’s reassurances to Jamie about the safety of the Inn. 

The quiet, the warmth, even the light, was all so organic and different than his noisy, purely electric home world, which was at this point, basically buildings stacked on top of each other and drowning in thick, dirty, air. Even the people here seemed fresher than those back on New Earth. Anna and her cousin Samandriel smiled with a weightlessness and sincerity that Kevin had never seen before. This place really was special and he could almost feel it sinking into his bones. He snapped a quick picture of the Inn as Anna led them forward to the door. 

She knocked a couple times and pressed the heavy door open, revealing a large open room with a fireplace, several beautifully crafted wooden chairs covered with knit and patchwork blankets, and a matching couch. There was also a small desk to the side where several men all looked up at once. 

An older man, probably in his mid-40’s with a lightly salted black scruff, large arms and shoulders, and well-used hands, greeted them with the same easy smile that Anna and Samandriel wore. “Ah, you’re here. Welcome everyone, I’ll be taking care of you all now, so come on up to the desk, bring your bags in and my boys’ll take ‘em up to your rooms while I give you the grand tour.”

Kevin watched as the young lovers rushed forward excitedly chatting about dinner, followed by a scientist who was clearly on his own, and then one of the families with grown-children. Next Polly and Ben arrived at the front and Ben heaved his bag onto the counter. “Here, let me get that for ya, Pol.” Ben offered and Polly smiled before putting her bag on the counter next to his, “I’m just fine, Ben, but thank you. Doctor, how many rooms should we get?” She asked from the front of the line. 

“Well, I suppose you should get one for yourself, while Ben, Jamie and I share the other, yes, 2 should do just fine.” Polly nodded and was about to turn back to the counter when Kevin spoke up.

“Now, now, Doctor, wouldn’t it be better if Ben and I shared? You and Jamie should have your own room.” Kevin said pointedly. They hadn’t been on the planet more than an hour and they were already forgetting about the rouse, that wasn’t a good sign. Kevin wasn’t sure how seriously they would have to stick to it to avoid trouble, but if he got himself kicked off the planet for covering for stowaways his boss would definitely not be considering that raise. In fact, he could get fired for wasting the company funds and losing them a big promotional story like this, so it was better safe than sorry. The interesting company was just an added bonus. 

The Doctor clapped his hands together, his eyes brightening, “Oh yes, of course, that would be better, if you don’t mind sharing.”

“Not at all, Doctor. You and Jamie deserve the privacy.” Kevin said with a grin and Jamie blushed bright red as Polly, pursing her lips to keep from laughing, turned back to the counter. One of the boys gave Polly and Ben separate keys and took their bags upstairs while the pair made their way to the rest of the waiting group, near the fire. 

Jamie put his bag up next, along with the Doctor’s, as The Doctor took their key and shoved it deep into his pocket before rejoining the others. Kevin went up to the desk and waited for one of the boys to return back downstairs. He hadn’t really gotten a good look at them while he had been in line, but as one returned downstairs, he realized they weren’t ‘boys’, they were grown men. 

The man who returned down the stairs was so tall he had to duck a bit to keep from hitting his head. He had long, fluffy hair, that reflected the golden light of the fire, and a large muscular frame, that when combined with his height, made him seem like a giant, especially in comparison to Kevin who was on the slender and short side of the scale. 

Kevin felt himself stand a little straighter as the man approached the counter, in hopes to lessen the difference between them, but as the man finally met his eyes, he felt himself freeze and soften at the same time. This man looked down at him with the brightest, warmest smile he had ever seen. It was more than just easy like the others, it was welcoming and open. His eyes were gentle and seemed to have golden starbursts in the middle of their hazel green fields. “Hi, can I get your name?” The man asked and Kevin realized his mouth was hanging open.

He quickly shook his head to recover, “Kevin Tran.”

“Oh, the reporter, right?” The man asked with a spark of interest. 

“Yes, that’s right.” Kevin said, still somewhat in a daze, but content to let the man lead him through a conversation. 

“That’s great. I’m Sam, if you need anything or want to know something about the town or the trees, or anything really, just let me know, ok? Things are kinda crazy right now, but I can definitely make time if you want to talk.”

“I’d like that.” Kevin said, about to smile only to realize he’d been smiling ever since he shut his mouth and felt his cheeks go warm. 

“Me too, I always like to hear the guests’ stories.” Sam looked down a bit embarrassed, but his smile never faltered. “Anyway, here is your key. Ben Jackson is going to be sharing with you right? We usually only give one room key out, but since you are probably going to be coming and going a lot, you should probably have your own.” Kevin nodded his understanding. “So, can I take your bags?” 

“Oh, right, sorry.” Kevin lifted his many bags onto the counter and watched as Sam picked them up, giving him one last smile of acknowledgement, before heading upstairs. Kevin scanned Sam’s body as he went, only snapping out of it when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He quickly made his way over to the Doctor’s group where everyone was listening to the Inn keeper answer one of the scientists questions about the import wood used to make the buildings around town. 

Once the group was gathered together, Anna and Samandriel approached the group. “Ok, well we are all done for today, but we will be around here and there, and if nothing else we will see you tomorrow when we meet for a tour of the woods. Please meet us here in the lobby after breakfast and make sure to wear walking shoes. If you need a wake-up call, let my baby brother Cassie know.” She waved teasingly at her brother and the group turned to see a dark haired man behind the counter, shaking his head in exasperation. He had the same big bright eyes as his sister, though the color was slightly different.

“Just kidding, Cas. Love you.”

“I know.” He smiled, clearly tired. Anna turned back to the group and whispered, “But yeah, no really, make him wake you up. It’ll help him force himself out of bed.” 

“It’s true, Castiel is horrible in the morning, he needs all the help he can get.” Samandriel added with his usual bright innocent smile. 

“Alright, that’s enough harassing my future son-in-law. Get outta here you two.” The inn-keeper said using his hands to shoo them and the two smiled before giving the group one more goodbye and heading out. 

“Anyway, I’m John Campbell, born John Winchester. This inn has been in my family since it was built, so anything you wanna know about it, I’m your man. Me and my family will be taking care of you during your trip, so feel free to ask us if you need anything. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all served here, but feel free to head over to The Roadhouse down the path, if you get tired of my son’s cooking.”

“As if anyone could get tired of my cooking.” A man teased as he sauntered down the stairs, with Sam close behind him. This man was slightly shorter than Sam, but still tall, and built about the same and with a similar coloring. Unlike Sam, he kept his wheat colored hair short and he had a thin 5 o’clock shadow; he also had a much deeper voice, though it couldn’t compare to Anna’s brother Castiel whose voice rumbled rough and dry like an earthquake. The most defining feature Kevin noticed about this other man, was that he was bow-legged, which probably helped with his sauntering. However, bow-legged or not, this man held himself with a confidence that Sam didn’t seem to carry. 

“Isn’t that right, Cas?” The shorter man asked as he and Sam neared the counter. 

“It’s a loaded question, son, you don’t have to answer it.” John said with a grin and Cas smiled almost shyly at Dean. “It’s alright. I never get tired of your cooking, Dean.” 

“See, I’m awesome.” Dean said throwing his arm around Cas’s shoulders. 

“Yeah, well I think Cas is a little biased, as your brother, I can say I’m definitely tired of it. So if anyone does want to go to the Roadhouse, let me know and I’ll take you out.” Sam offered and Dean clutched at his heart, with an exaggerated expression of hurt. 

“Do you hear that Cas? I am so under appreciated.” 

“Oh? Is that so?” Cas looked at him, narrowing his eyebrows, and staring him down with his face inches from Dean’s. Dean seemed to go pink and laugh-cough as he looked away, “Well, OK, not…all the time, I guess.”

John shook his head, “Anyway, that loudmouth, is my oldest, Dean. The tall one is my youngest, Sam, and that angel of patience there is the poor boy that agreed to marry my idiot son, and you can call him Cas or Castiel.”

“Hey! He knew what he was signing up for.” Dean said, bringing Cas closer to him and Sam snickered. Watching the family made Kevin suddenly miss his mother. 

“Anyway, my wife will be home in a few days, too. She’s the head of our community here and she has to meet with the other leaders once a month. She’ll be letting you in on how the communities work and all that import export stuff you were asking about.” He directed to the scientist. “So, uh, let me show you where you can eat and all that. Dean, why don’t you get dinner ready to be served?”

“Yes, sir.” Dean saluted and headed off into another room. 

“All blokes, huh. Too bad, was kinda hopin’ that Anna would stick around. She was bloody gorgeous.” Ben said leaning towards Jamie, who grinned and nodded, “Aye, she was a bonny wee lass.

“At least we can see her again tomorrow, eh? But remember, you’re married, so no puttin’ the moves on her.” Ben slapped the back of his hand against Jamie’s chest playfully and Jamie sighed, “I nearly forgot about that.”

Kevin noticed a look of conflict in Jamie’s face and he started to wonder if he had made some big mistake claiming Jamie as the Doctor’s husband. 

John took them through the rest of the inn, showing them how there were only two toilets in the hotel that everyone had to share and that while they did have showers, most people bathed at the man-made hot springs ‘down the path’. It was starting to seem like everything was ‘down the path’.

Because nearly everything they had was imported or artificially created, they had to be careful of using resources, including electronics, which they said not to use unless necessary, as most of the energy on the planet was used to sustain the atmosphere and weather controls. The more he witnessed, the more he noticed the strange juxtaposition of technology. Everything seemed to be stuck in a time-warp, with the natural cooking over a fire, the home-made furniture and clothes, and the lanterns, but still everyone had communicator watches and the weather was artificial. They made an incredible amount of money in tourism and from the royalties from the movies that were allowed to actually shoot on the planet, but even that must have barely made them break even. That or they were hoarding money like dragons. Kevin thought about Sam sitting on a pile of gold and couldn’t help but snicker to himself, catching Ben’s eye. Ben gave him a questioning look, but Kevin just waved him off.

Next they sat down to eat in a small room with a few tables set up. He didn’t recognize the protein, it was probably one of the animals that lived naturally on the planet, but it was tender, well-seasoned and came with a thick, creamy, gravy. The vegetables were the freshest Kevin had ever eaten and he practically moaned when he took his first bite of the salad. It was filled with greens, croutons, pomegranates, tomatoes, baby corn, apple bits, and almond shavings with a somewhat spicy onion based dressing that made everything come together in a sweet and spicy way. They also had a stew with more of the tender meat, potatoes, carrots, and celery with some toasted cheese rolls to dip into it. 

“Everything is absolutely incredible, Dean.” Polly complimented him as he walked around offering extra rolls.

“Why, thank you. See, Sam. Someone appreciates me.”

Cas cleared his throat and Dean winked at him. 

“Is all of the food imported, too?” Kevin asked as Sam came by offering more wine. 

“Nope, we have greenhouses where the community grows its vegetables and then we ration it out and the meat we get from hunting and fishing.” 

“Oh, what is it exactly?” 

“Uhm, I don’t know actually, my brother and father usually do the hunting. What I can tell you, is that this is an animal our people introduced to the environment hundreds of years ago. The only animal that is actually native to Earth 2.8 is the mire beast. Texture-wise, they are like octopuses, kind of rubbery, but they can be pretty good fried, we’ll probably be serving that a little later this week if my brother can manage to go out hunting.”

“Hey, I’ve been busy.” Dean defended himself from the other side of the room.

“I know.” Sam called back with a smile.

“Wedding planning?” Polly asked as she held out her glass for Sam to fill.

“Yeah, I guess Anna warned you?” 

Polly nodded, thanking him for the wine. 

“How many animal species live here now?” The Doctor asked curiously and Sam thought for a moment, “I’m not sure, we have quite a few though. We’ve gotten a lot of animals from other planets with a similar gravity, environment, and atmosphere to us. It took hundreds of years to set up a system that could sustain itself and keep in balance, population wise, but it’s been fairly stable for the last several decades. I’m sure you’ll see some animals tomorrow on your walk in the woods. If you want specifics, my mom will have access to all that information so you can ask her when she comes back.” 

“Can I get some wine, Sam?” One of the grown-children asked and Sam called out, “Of course,” before heading over there. Kevin watched him for a moment, Sam greeted everyone with the same warmth he had greeted Kevin with and he answered any questions put to him with patience and a seeming excitement.

“You alright there, mate?” Ben asked Kevin, pulling his attention back to their table. 

“Oh, yes, it’s nothing. Just thinking. I should be taking notes or something.” 

“We can help you if you’d like. I should have a notebook in here somewhere.” Before Kevin could refuse, The Doctor started rustling through his pockets pulling out random things like a small diary, a yo-yo, a long string of colorful flags, and a thin sonic screwdriver before Jamie could grab his hands.

“Ach, Doctor, will you not clutter up the table?”

“Yes, I uh, I have my tablet right here, anyway. Thank you though.” Kevin said pulling his mini-tablet from his jacket pocket. The Doctor gave an animated ‘Oh’ before he began filling his pockets again, Jamie’s hands lingering on his arm as he watched mystified with how much could fit. 

“Ye get it all?” Jamie asked, fretting over the Doctor, but the Doctor just smiled and patted his pockets, “I think so, yes. Thank you, Jamie.” 

Kevin’s head was full of questions for the Doctor, but he wasn’t sure how to phrase them without sounding rude or overly suspicious, but this man couldn’t actually be a doctor could he? Then again, every now and then, Kevin saw a twinkle in the man’s eyes, a flash of intelligence, hidden behind a clumsy, ruffled demeanor .Of course, he could just be imagining it. He took that moment to glance back around the room to find Sam. Sam was chatting happily with the young lovers, explaining something about the wine, it seemed. 

“Something caught your eye?” Kevin turned back to see Polly grinning at him. 

“What? No. I was just wanting more wine.”

“Uh huh.” Polly teased with a grin, glancing at Ben. 

“You still got ‘alf a cup there, mate.” Ben pointed out with a grin. Kevin looked at it with defiant determination and took it down in a few gulps. 

“Half a cup isn’t a lot, mate.” Kevin spit back and Ben, Polly and Jamie laughed. 

“Huh, maybe I was wrong about ye, ye can drink, that’s for sure.” Jamie said with a grin. 

“We have to get up early tomorrow, Jamie, try not to drink too much. That goes for you as well, Ben. I think I’m going to go look around, see if I can ask the inn-keeper a few more questions.” The Doctor said, clearing his throat a bit as he wiped his hands off on a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket. 

“I’ll go with you, Doctor. After all that food, a little walking would be nice.” Polly said getting up. 

“I would enjoy the company, shall we?” The Doctor offered his arm. Polly turned to the table, “Goodnight boys, try to behave.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Ben waved her off. 

Kevin watched them go and then looked back at Ben and Jamie. Ben had a wicked grin, “Alright gents, now that it’s just us blokes, what say we have a pint of the good stuff?” Kevin looked at him warily, but Ben went over to Sam and after a few moments came back with a pint of dark beer for everyone. 

“How did you-?” Kevin asked as he took his glass. 

“I read the brochure on the plane, it said one of the only exports they got is this dark beer they call ‘Tangled Branches’. It’s got some sort of syrup in it made from the sap of their special trees. Figure it’s gotta be pretty good eh? Bottoms up lads.” Ben tilted his glass towards them before taking a big gulp. Jamie followed in suit and Kevin brought the glass to his nose, taking a sniff. It smelled strong, but woodsy and sweet. He took a gulp and let the flavors wash over him. The syrup was different from maple or honey, but it had a similarly thick, warm, sticky, sweetness balanced by the bitter darkness of the beer that followed. Ben gave a contented sigh as he put the glass on the table, followed by the others. 

“I am gonna need about 3 more o’ these before the night’s over.” Ben chimed and Jamie grinned in agreement. Suddenly, a lone violin began to play and Kevin jumped in his spot. He looked around and saw Castiel in the corner playing a slow, but complicated sonata. Looking around, Kevin noticed most people had left or were just drinking now. Sam and Dean had finished serving and were sitting at a table to themselves, drinking and chatting comfortably. The lovers got up and began to slow dance to the music, clearly caught up in the romantic mood of exotic surroundings, good food, good people, beautiful music, and low lighting. 

Kevin watched them for a moment, sipping his beer and then let his eyes fall on Sam again. He couldn’t help it, his eyes just kept gravitating towards the man. There was something so beautiful about his smile and his eyes, something that felt like it was calling Kevin close. He wanted to talk to Sam about everything and let himself get comfortable in the warmth the man exuded. But instead, he stayed in place and continued drinking with Jamie and Ben until he could no longer keep his mouth shut.

“So, why the skirt?” Kevin asked bluntly. 

“Eh?” Jamie asked looking up at him with half shut eyes. 

“The skirt, why are you wearing a skirt? It’s for easy access isn’t it?” Kevin grinned and Jamie looked over at Ben. 

“The kilt Jamie, he’s talkin’ about your kilt.”

“Oh? Hey, it’s no’ a skirt, it’s a kilt.”

“Right. Where did you say you were from?”

“Sco-“ Jamie started before Ben elbowed him and took over, “We are from all over the place, travelers you know? What about you?”

“New Earth, born and raised.”

“New Earth?” Jamie looked at Ben and Ben shrugged. 

“Oh please, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t know about New Earth.” 

“Well, I mean, we’ve heard about it, obviously, but we haven’t been there, right Jamie?”

“Huh? Oh, aye.” Jamie agreed and Kevin gave them a suspicious look before sighing and pulling out his tablet. “Here, I got some pictures. This is from my apartment window.” The picture was facing down dozens of stories with only thick smog at the bottom. 

“Wow. Some view ye got there.” Jamie said pushing his face closer to look. 

“Think I got some of my work place and my car somewhere on here, too.” 

“Now the car, I want to see.” Ben beamed. 

“Can I see too?” Sam asked, approaching their table with his, beautiful smile that made Kevin smile even when he didn’t mean to. “Yeah. Sit down, join us.” 

Kevin started showing off some pictures of anything he could find on his phone, his apartment, his office, his mom, some of the pictures from other places he had traveled to for work. Ben asked him about a thousand questions about his car, Sam wanted to know everything about life on New Earth, and eventually Jamie just went quiet. When Kevin finally noticed, he looked over at Jamie and found him staring at Dean and Castiel with a mixture of unease and thoughtfulness. It wasn’t until that moment that Kevin realized the music had stopped and the two were huddled at a table kissing and whispering together. 

“Jamie? You ok?” Kevin asked curiously and Jamie looked back at him with embarrassment. “Aye, I just uh, think I better head to bed.”

“Oh, alright.” Kevin said quietly. 

“Night Jamie.” Ben said with a playful salute. 

“Night Ben.” Jamie gave him a smile, looked back once more at Dean and Castiel, and turned, stumbling towards the stairs. 

“I…better go help him.” Sam said and got up to chase after him. 

“What was that about?” Kevin asked and Ben shrugged, “Jamie comes from a pretty… different place. He’s getting used to seeing things that are new, but sometimes he’s still not sure what to make of it all, ya know?” Kevin nodded and Ben continued in a whisper as he leaned over the table closer to Kevin, “An’ if we’re bein’ honest, I don’t think you were too far off when you matched him up with the Doctor. He’s just confused about it s’all.” 

“Ah.” While New Earth had complete freedom of sexuality and gender, to the point that the majority of people didn’t think much of strictly labeling themselves, but he had visited some planets that had been more conservative, so he thought he understood what Jamie might be going through. 

“Well, ‘nuff about that eh? Better call it a night or we’re gonna miss the tour tomorrow and then Pol’ll ring my neck.”

“Yeah, let’s go.” With that, Ben and Kevin helped each other upstairs to their room and threw themselves, still dressed, into their separate beds. The lull of alcohol made Kevin want so many things. He wanted a shower, he wanted Sam, he knew he needed to take notes on the things he had learned that day before he forgot them, and he needed to tell his mother he had made it safely to Earth 2.8, but in the end, he couldn’t keep his eyes more than a couple minutes before he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for making them Campbells...I won't bring it up too much.


	3. Deep Roots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Group explores more of the community and Kevin overhears something that might make his article more interesting.

At the sound of an energetic knock, Kevin woke with his eyes crusted over, his stomach in knots, and his head throbbing. Not that he was surprised, he had always been susceptible to hang-overs and it didn’t help that he had had a bit more to drink than he had planned last night. 

The flurry of knocks once again assaulted the door and Kevin groaned, reaching for his carry-on bag that sat on the floor beside his bed. It was only a few more inches from his grasp, but those few inches were more than his balance could handle and he fell to the floor still tangled in his blankets. The sudden impact took his breath in a gasp and, as if in response, he heard Ben grumble from across the room. 

“Ben?” Polly’s voice called from the other side of the door.

“Ugh, alright. I’m coming Duchess, just give me a second will ya?” Ben muttered and heaved himself out of bed, while Kevin, still on the floor, struggled with the zipper of his bag, glaring at it with squinted eyes that refused to open fully. Kevin heard the door open, but kept his focus on the bag, tearing at the bag and swearing under his breath until it finally came free. 

Kevin’s hands roamed through the bag as his eyes finally starting to blink open a bit and after being poked and jabbed a few times by random objects, he finally found a small pill bottle and a water bottle with leftover water from the flight. He took two small white pills and chugged the water before letting his head fall to the floor lazily. The pills would take effect soon, he just had to wait. 

After a few minutes, Ben walked over to him, tilting his head a bit as he looked him over. “You alright there, mate?” 

“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine, just need a little time to wake up.” Kevin muttered, pushing himself up to a sitting position, if for no other reason than stubborn pride. Of course, it was a terrible idea, as instantly his head began to spin in revolt. 

“Well, Pol said the wait for the showers is gettin’ pretty crazy, so she’s thinking about going to the hot springs. You in?” 

“No…I don’t think-“ 

“You won’t be able to get a shower any other way before the tour, mate. You sure?” Kevin debated the choices in his head and eventually Ben just rolled his eyes, “Come on, you’ll feel a lot better. Let’s go.” Ben pulled Kevin up. 

“You can come in now, Pol.” Ben called out and Polly came in grinning at them as Ben helped Kevin regain his balance. 

“Have a good time last night then?”

“’Course.” Ben grinned accidentally shaking Kevin’s shoulders a bit making him groan. 

Polly gave a half-teasing half-scolding look before she opened Ben's bag, “Here, let me help you guys get ready. Dean said we could get all the toiletries and towels we will need at the hot spring itself, but we’ll need to take a fresh change of clothes.” 

“Do we still have time for the tour?” Ben asked curiously. 

Polly looked at him, quickly understanding his underlying meaning and sighed, “Yes, Ben, if we hurry.” 

Ben seemed to perk up at that and got them moving quickly. On their way, they stopped by The Doctor and Jamie’s room and asked if they wanted to join them. 

The Doctor clapped his hands together at the idea, “That sounds lovely. Shall we, Jamie?” 

Jamie wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes as he scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, “No, I’m fine.”

“Come on, mate, you wanna get cleaned up before we see that gorgeous bird Anna, right?” 

Jamie finally managed to meet Ben’s eyes, but he shook his head again, “Nah, I’ll just use the stream or something if I need to.”

“Jamie, what's wrong? This isn’t like you.” Polly asked with worry. 

“I jus’ dinnae want to go, OK?” Jamie snapped and Polly’s eyes went wide as she stepped slightly back. The tension in the air was palpable, it was as if everyone knew that one more step in any direction would put them right into scattered glass shards. 

But, like a cool wind in the summer, The Doctor’s calm, kind voice instantly seemed to cut through the tension, “Perhaps a bit more rest will do you some good, Jamie.” 

“If it’s a hangover, I have some medicine-“ Kevin started quietly, but The Doctor shook his head and Kevin found himself silenced. 

“Aye, a wee bit of shut eye should do it. Sorry, Polly.” Jamie said quietly and went back into the room. The group watched him go until The Doctor gently shut the door. 

“What was that all about?” Ben asked The Doctor, whose smile fell a bit at the question. 

“Despite my objections, Jamie opted to sleep on the floor last night, I doubt he was able to get very comfortable.” 

“Ah.” Ben said and that was the end of it. 

Kevin’s mind was still sluggish from the hang-over, but he was already tossing together theories as to what was going on with Jamie. In the end, however, he concluded that he didn’t know the group well enough to assume anything for sure. Still, he felt Jamie’s absence as they headed to the hot spring without him. 

The uncomfortable quiet lasted for a while and eventually Ben started trying to cheer everyone up with his usual banter. The Doctor made a few comments on the birds they occasionally saw dart between the thick branches of the sky, and Polly went through the directions Dean gave her to get them ‘down the path’ to the hot springs. 

Eventually they found the Hot Springs, primarily by following the hot, moist air, when they got close enough. It was a small cottage, tucked between two large hot springs surrounded by tall wooden planks. Steam rose from the hot springs and swirled up through the trees making the light from the lanterns in that area hazy. Even from outside, they could hear the laughter and chatting voices of many people. 

Kevin eyed the place curiously, he had never actually been to a hot spring, man-made or not, but he was excited to get clean. As they entered, a man with ruffled, curly brown hair and a fluffy bath robe welcomed them, “Hi everyone, come for a soak?” 

“Yes, please.” Polly said enthusiastically and the man laughed, pulling up some small baskets for each of them. Each hand-woven basket held tiny bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and face wash along with a small bar of body soap that looked like it was made of honey comb, and a set of towels. 

“Well, since you’re first timers, let me explain a bit. I’m Chuck Novak, you’ve probably met my son Castiel?”

“Oh, yes, we have. He’s a charming boy.” The Doctor said politely and Chuck seemed to beam with pride. 

“Well, this is our family’s hot spring and we’ve been running it for generations. Naturally, the hot springs are man-made, but the water is full of nutrients and vitamins that can help your skin and overall health as well as some of the natural minerals from the planet itself. I can give you the details of what’s in the water if you’d like. Or some history about how it was built?”

“That would be very interesting, yes please.” The Doctor said excitedly and Polly nudged him, “Later, Doctor. I need to get clean.” 

“Ah, yes, of course. Later then. Please continue, Mr. Novak.” The Doctor said surrendering, but never losing his smile. 

“Alright, I’ll just get to the important stuff then, the hot springs are separated by gender and you’re expected to shower before you enter them; after all, the majority of our community baths here, so we like to keep it as clean and comfortable as possible for everyone. After you’ve gotten cleaned up, you can take your small hand towel with you and enter the hot spring itself. Any questions?” 

Kevin’s mind may have still been foggy, but he knew opportunity when it knocked. “Uhm, yes, just one, I’m Kevin Tran-“

“Ah, the reporter!”

“Uhm, yes, actually. I was wondering if I could take a few pictures of the hot springs. It’s a culture we don’t really have on New Earth and I’m sure the people there would find it very interesting.” 

Chuck seemed to think it over for a moment, but his features were already twisting to give away his answer. He was clearly just trying to figure out how to word a polite refusal, but Kevin wasn’t about to give him an easy out, after all some people would say yes purely because they couldn’t figure out how to say no and pictures in a hot spring would definitely sell copies. 

Unfortunately, Chuck was the type to eventually get to the no, he had raised several children after all. “Sorry, it would be a bit problematic while people are in there relaxing, if you want you could come back in the afternoon, the place is usually empty then.” 

“No, it’s alright, I understand the need for privacy.” Kevin responded formally and Chuck gave a relieved smile and led them into the back. 

More than anything, it felt incredible to finally get a shower. Kevin let his head just soak the water up as he felt his body relax and his mind wake, the medicine was clearly starting to kick in. The water smelt like the woods and he couldn’t help but lick his lips, it was fresh and clean like the water from a purifier, but sprinkled with salt and pine. 

“Now this is heaven. Doctor, we need to come on more vacations.” Ben said from his stall next to Kevin. 

“Yes, it is rather nice to relax isn’t it?” The doctor responded. Kevin smiled, even if they weren’t talking to him directly, even if he wasn’t actually a part of their group, he was with them, and that felt nice. He heard Ben’s water go off and realized he hadn’t even begun washing his hair. As he scrambled to wash his face, he heard The Doctor join Ben. 

“Hey, Kev, you about ready, mate?” Ben asked anxiously and Kevin flushed, only his mother ever called him Kev, but that familiarity felt good. 

“Uhm, go on ahead, I’ll be there in a bit.” Kevin could barely keep himself from smiling, which made him get face-wash bubbles in his mouth. 

After frantically washing himself, Kevin took his small towel and headed out to the hot spring. It was a large pool of green water, he looked at it curiously and The Doctor caught him, “It’s scented. They apparently scent it differently every day. Each scent comes with a different set of vitamins and minerals, it keeps their skin quite healthy apparently.” 

Ben gave Kevin a look that suggested he had just had to sit through a long explanation and was bored out of his mind. Kevin smiled at the thought and moved his foot into the water first, to test it. It was hotter than he was used to, but he took a deep, slow, breath and let the tea-scented, thick, humid air fill his lungs as he got in, letting the heat spread through him. He took a spot next to Ben and sat back against the rocky edge of the hot spring. Despite being man-made, it was made to feel natural, yet comfortable with rocky edges and a smooth floor and seat area. Ben leaned his head against the edge and put his washcloth over his eyes, resting. 

“I could stay in here forever.” Ben said with a sigh.

Kevin looked around, there were several other people in the hot spring. A few other tourists from their group, the scientist and one of the young lovers, then several groups of locals that he didn’t recognize. After a while, The Doctor picked up a conversation with one of the employees, he was a young man with jet black hair and the kind of smile you saw on magazine covers. Apparently, he was another of Chuck’s many children and his name was Michael. 

Through their conversation Kevin heard about how after New Earth learned about the trees and prosperity on Earth 2.8, they began funding the planet again, as they did every colony, and that the hot springs were created as a way to save resources, money and space. Apparently, most houses didn’t even have showers. It also kept the community healthy, tight knit, and comfortable. Kevin wondered how the people of New Earth would react to having a hot spring. He couldn’t help but imagine that most people would be sneaking sex in it and inevitably that line of thought led him back to Sam. Did Sam come here too? Or did he use the showers at the Inn. 

Kevin started to imagine Sam running the washcloth over his large chest and biceps and how the green water would run thin dark lines over his chest like thousands of branches. Kevin quickly bit his lip as he felt heat build between his legs. This was not the time nor the place for those thoughts. He glanced at The Doctor and Ben, but fortunately, they hadn’t noticed anything.

After the bath, the group made their way back to the Inn in high spirits. Ben was more than a little excited to see Anna, The Doctor was excited for the tour itself, and Kevin was ready to finally get some work done. They gathered at the Inn where Polly and Jamie were having breakfast and joined them. Having breakfast in the same lighting as dinner was a little disorienting, but it was another incredible meal courtesy of Dean Campbell. 

Jamie seemed to be back to himself as he laughed and spoke with Ben and Polly while The Doctor mingled with some of the other guests. Knowing he wouldn’t have much time later, Kevin headed to his room after eating a bit and used his mini tablet for a video-call. 

He waited for a moment and after the third ring his mother’s face appeared on the screen. “Kevin! There you are! I was so worried; why didn’t you let me know you made it alright?”

“Sorry, things were pretty crazy yesterday. Actually, I’m about to go on a tour of the woods in a few minutes, too. I just wanted to let you know I made it.”

Mrs. Tran smiled at that, “Well, thank you for that. So? How is it? Is it like the movies?”

“Honestly? It’s better. This place is amazing. I’ll send you some pictures later, but the food, the air, the water, everything is so good and everyone is so…I can’t even explain it. They are just really, welcoming I guess. There is this warmth to everyone and everything.” Mrs. Tran’s eyes shined a bit as she listened with pride and awe. 

“That sounds wonderful, Kev.”

“I wish I could show you, mom. You’d love this place.” Suddenly there was a gentle knock on the door and Kevin looked up. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but your tour is about to start.” Kevin blushed when he recognized the voice calling to him, it was Sam. He looked back at his tablet, “Sorry mom, I gotta go.” Mrs. Tran was grinning knowingly at him now, “Ok baby.”

“Mom!” Kevin whispered harshly before blushing further. 

“Bye sweetheart. Go get ‘em.” Mrs. Tran said with a wink and hung up. Kevin stuffed his tablet in his shirt pocket, grabbed his large camera bag and rushed to the door to find Sam waiting there with his usual brilliant smile, “I made sure they didn’t leave without you.” Kevin felt himself relax, Sam probably hadn’t heard any of that; he was probably just thinking Kevin was worried about being left behind. That was Kevin’s theory anyway and he rolled with it. 

“Oh, thanks, Sam. I appreciate that.” He looked up at Sam as he closed the door behind himself, putting them, incidentally, closer together. Looking up at Sam, Kevin realized he’d probably have to jump if he ever wanted to actually kiss Sam and feeling the pull of their proximity was making that seem like a good choice. 

“You are scheduled for a press-only tour after that too, right?” Sam asked curiously and Kevin nodded, “Yes, around town to see some craft work, I believe?” 

“Yeah, and the green houses. You should have some time between them though.” Sam paused, considering his words, and Kevin hung on waiting, “We’ll probably be pretty busy with wedding planning, but maybe I’ll see you at lunch?” 

Kevin felt red heat brush across his cheeks again, “That’d be nice. I’ll uhm, see you at lunch then…hopefully.” Kevin kicked himself. Sam nodded, his smile seeming different from before, but without another word Sam walked off leaving Kevin to rejoin the group downstairs, still wondering what that smile might have meant. 

“So is everyone ready to take a closer look at the forest?” Anna asked energetically as Samandriel handed out pamphlets to everyone. The nature enthusiast was probably the most excited to get going, although the older rich ladies were beginning to ask questions about whether or not they were going to see where such-and-such scene was shot. Well at least the tour was only a couple hours long, then Kevin could escape the more obnoxious guests. 

As they left the path and entered into the forest, each step became a gamble as the thick roots of the trees bubbled and twisted over the surface of the planet and the only light was from the few lanterns hanging in the trees high above them. Many of the guests used their devices as flashlights to guide their paths. Jamie and Polly held the Doctor’s arms tightly, trying to keep each other, and themselves, from falling. Kevin walked behind Anna with Ben, taking pictures of the roots, the ice ornaments on the trees, and the lantern spotted sky. 

Anna and Samandriel walked with confidence, never even looking down, like the entire forest and ever root and rock was edged into their brains naturally – something Kevin was in awe of after the third time he had to grab Ben in order to keep from falling. The nature enthusiast pointed out every animal they came across and Anna mentioned what they were called and what planet they originated in. The Doctor asked about the trees themselves, as they were sentient, he wanted to know if they moved much, but Anna assured him that they did not move often. Generally, they guided their growth to help the people and the planet or to fit around one another more comfortably. 

“How can ye not find these trees creepy?” Jamie whispered to The Doctor and Polly. 

“Jamie, they are good trees, don’t be rude.” Polly assured and scolded him in one breath. 

“Och, I’m not bein’ rude, I’m bein’ honest. Moving trees is wrong. A forest shouldn’t move.

“Tell that to Macbeth.” The Doctor teased and Jamie looked at him curiously, “Who?” “Never mind.” 

“I’m jus’ sayin’ it’s no- right.” 

“Well don’t think of them as trees, Jamie. Remember, more than ordinary trees, they have a consciousness, they are an alien species.”

“Hmph.”

“Just like me.” The Doctor continued and Jamie seemed to bow his head a bit. 

“It’s no- the same.” Jamie finally said and The Doctor smiled, “Isn’t it?”

“No, think about it, these trees are always watchin’ everyone right? Listenin’ to them, waitin’. They could just decide to leave or fall or somethin’ and all these people would be done for. ”

“Yes, and anyone could be hit by a car any day of the week.” Polly said simply and The Doctor chuckled, “Just so. Jamie, there is danger everywhere, you know that better than anyone. Think about being back home, in the war, or any of the planets we’ve been to, there is always something people have to struggle against whether it’s invaders, enemies, society, or even themselves. Here the trees and people are fighting to survive together. What would it benefit the trees to hurt their protectors?”

Kevin heard Jamie go quiet for a while before Jamie finally gave a quiet, “I guess that’s a good point.” 

“Good, then no more suspicious talk of the trees, you’ll hurt their feelings.” The Doctor said in a way that made Kevin wonder how serious he was. 

“So, Anna, you always do the tours?” Ben asked when she was finally free from the dozens of other questions coming her way. 

“Oh yes, it’s my place. In our community, we all usually take the roles our parents preformed if applicable and if there is an excess of children to one couple, they will be given to others in the community who cannot have children, or be allowed to perform other positions that are needed to be filled. My family is rather large, our father’s family has always owned the hot springs and my mother was a tour guide. Usually, women have first right of job inheritance, as we keep our family name. So I took mother’s position, and eventually my younger sister Hannah will take over the hot spring, though some of our brothers will certainly assist her with that. Castiel is marrying out of the family, so he will be helping Dean with the Inn because Dean is to inherit it. Eventually, they will be given a child or children to carry on their name and traditions.”

“Wow, so you didn’t really choose to be a tour guide then? You just had to?” Ben asked, genuinely curious now. 

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I dislike it. I enjoy getting to meet people and teaching them about our home.” Anna gave a flirtatious grin and Kevin looked at Ben in surprise, Ben might actually have a shot with their beautiful tour guide. 

“Oh, well that’s good then.” Ben was clearly a bit surprised by his success as well. 

“What do you do, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I'm a sailor.” 

“Like, on an ocean?”

“The very kind.” 

“We hear a lot of stories of oceans, since our planet was once covered in one, but I can’t actually imagine being on one.”

“Well, let me tell you about it, then.” Ben said moving a bit closer to Anna as they moved forward through the forest. 

Kevin shook his head and glanced back at the others, the three of them were still walking huddled together and Kevin couldn’t help but flash a picture. They looked up at him with surprise and he just shrugged his shoulders before looking around again. They were far from the cottages now and he could hear the quiet movement in the forest from the animals and noticed the ice ornaments bloom here and there as if in welcome. Even in the eternal darkness, this place seemed to glow with beauty. 

After the tour, they returned to the inn for lunch. Dean was sitting by the fire weaving what looked like 4 thick ribbons of various shades of green together into a braid. His brows were tight together as he worked. Across the room, Castiel was writing frantically, stopping every couple moments to backtrack. Sam, meanwhile was gathered on the floor with their father John, putting together some sort of wooden table. 

“We’re back.” Anna announced and Dean sighed in frustration, putting the ribbons down, “I’ll get lunch ready.” 

“Thanks Dean.” John said from the floor and Dean smiled before heading to the kitchen, stopping only to kiss Castiel’s cheek. 

The guests spread out at this point, some heading into the dining room to wait for lunch, others to their rooms, and some out the door to explore. “Is there anything we could help with?” Polly asked curiously and John looked over at her gratefully, “Well if you’re serious, we have some party favors that could use wrapping.” 

“Oh, I’ll help, too.” Anna chimed in.

“Yeah, me too.” Ben said quickly and Anna smiled at him, while Polly rolled her eyes. 

“That’s great, thanks. Anna, they are out back.” John instructed. 

“Ok!” Anna took Polly and Ben out back, for what Kevin was sure, was going to be a really uncomfortable time. The Doctor stepped up to John and Sam, “May I help as well? I do have a sonic screwdriver, it might be helpful.” 

“Yeah, that would be great, right dad?” Sam said enthusiastically looking at John, who seemed conflicted for reasons beyond Kevin’s understanding, but eventually John nodded his blessing and The Doctor joined them. 

“What is that for, anyway?” Jamie asked curiously as he sat on the couch watching them. 

“It’s an altar, to place gifts for the trees to bless the wedding. Each family will offer a gift and the community leader, which in this case is part of one of the family’s will offer another gift.” Sam explained. Kevin took a few pictures around the room and went over to watch as well. 

“What happens if the trees don’t bless a marriage?” Jamie asked and The Doctor looked at him pointedly. 

“Well, it has been known to happen. The marriage is…immediately canceled. But those circumstances are really infrequent and generally are only canceled because the trees have known one or the other to be unfaithful, or deceptive. Any marriage where someone is trying to use the other person, for example, is generally not accepted. As we take care of the trees, they take care of us.” Sam explained, ending solemnly. John repeated the phrase as he held the frame stable for The Doctor to screw together. 

“That’s…kinda nice.” Jamie admitted and The Doctor glanced at him with a small smile. It was probably his pride, but Jamie just scoffed at the smile, his cheeks turning a bit red as he got up from the couch, “I’m gonna go wait for lunch. I’ll let you know when the food is ready, Doctor.”

“Thank you Jamie.” The Doctor responded, keeping his eyes on his work now, as he sonic-ed the alter together. 

“When is the wedding exactly?” Kevin asked and Sam moved back to sit on his heels.

“Next week, after mother returns and all the preparations are done. Are you going to come?”

“I wouldn’t miss it, information on how weddings work here would be perfect for the article.” 

“Right, that movie you are doing the article for is another romance movie right? I suppose that makes sense that a wedding would be just the thing your readers would be interested in then.”

“Yes, but really people are curious about everything, I mean this place is a mystery to most people out there. All they know is what they see in the movies.” 

Sam was about to respond when Jamie came back out. “Food’s ready Doctor.”

“Alright, Jamie, I’m coming.” The Doctor finished what he was doing and folded the sonic screwdriver back into his pocket. “Please let me know if you need anymore help.” John nodded and thanked him as The Doctor wobbled to his feet and went off to join Jamie. Kevin gave a smile to Sam, hoping it was enough to invite him to lunch and wandered off towards the dining room. 

Over lunch, Anna asked Ben all about the ocean and his work as a sailor in the navy. Throughout the talk, Kevin also learned that Polly had been a personal assistant, Jamie had been a soldier and a piper, whatever that was, and The Doctor was, well, evasive of answering personal questions. Kevin found himself taking more pictures of the group, they wouldn’t be for the article, but he found himself wanting them. 

After lunch, Anna guided the group on their next tour where they met the local woodworker Bobby Singer who explained where their wood came from and the old traditions of carving and woodwork in the community. Each piece of wood was honored as if it had been from their own trees and made into durable, beautiful pieces. Despite the fact that Bobby was clearly drinking while working, his carving was incredibly intricate. Jamie nearly got them all thrown out when he leaned on a piece unknowingly and knocked it over. However, Bobby turned it into a teaching moment, by showing Jamie how to smooth the edges that had been damaged. 

After that, they toured the green houses where a bright red haired girl, could seemed around Kevin’s age, told them all about what was being grown, what supplies they imported for the upkeep of the food, and how everything was distributed among the community. Everyone was like a family, they knew each other well and cared for one another. If they knew one person needed to eat more or less than others, or didn’t like certain things, their supply amount was adjusted accordingly without a fight from anyone. It made sense, after all, as Anna had explained, some of these people were raising each other’s children. In one sense, they really were a family. 

Through the tours, Kevin collected many quotes and pictures that he could potentially use for his article and he’d actually enjoyed going around with his new friends. The Doctor’s questions had helped him get relevant information and Polly and Jamie had given him new perspective. Ben, had been a bit distracted by Anna, but Kevin could hardly blame him for that. 

When they got back to the Inn, Castiel was playing the violin in the main room where some guests were chatting and enjoying the fire with some wine. John was still working on the alter, with Dean’s help this time, and Sam was at the counter writing. Kevin sent some pictures to his mom as he took a seat near the fire. 

Ben watched Anna go up to Castiel and pull him into a hug and leaned against Jamie, giving a small whistle. “Now that is a fit bird, am I right?

Jamie grinned, “Oh aye, you gonna kiss her then?”

“You can’t rush these things, Jamie, gotta take your time. Trust me, you can’t just go in for the kill. You gotta lay on the romance.”

“Oh, aye.” Jamie seemed to take Ben’s words in as words of wisdom. Polly and Ben both seemed to treat Jamie like a little brother. Kevin smiled watching them and his eyes went to where Sam was at the counter. Take it slow. Romance. Kevin could do that. Maybe. I mean sure he hadn’t tried before, but how hard could it be right?

Kevin went up to the counter, “Hey.”

Sam looked up with a smile, “Oh hi, welcome back. How were the tours?”

“Great. Although there is another place I was hoping to see today.”

“Oh?” 

“That Roadhouse you mentioned, maybe?” 

Sam’s eyes seemed to brighten and he stood up straight, “Yeah? Tired of Dean’s cooking already?”

“No, just thought a change of scenery might be nice.” 

“Ah, alright, well, I’ll just finish my numbers up and then we can go.” Kevin grinned and turned away before he could say anything embarrassing. He realized that that moment, that up until then he hadn’t taken a breath and couldn’t help but laugh a bit to himself. 

“Kevin?” Sam asked, sounding worried and Kevin blushed, “Uh nothing. Let me know when you’re ready!” He headed across the room and took a seat, sitting extra still as if it would help him dissolve into the chair. 

Kevin watched as Castiel played effortlessly as he spoke to his sister, both glowing under the amber light of the fire. Everything felt oddly normal, not the boring kind of normal, but the kind of normal one has at home when they are comfortable. It reminded Kevin of long nights writing his articles with cup after cup of tea. Of course, those nights were usually accompanied by the relentless noise of cars flying passed his window and the stress of deadlines, and the bland emptiness of his apartment. Now that he thought about it, home hadn’t ever felt as normal and comfortable as this.

Kevin was use to keeping his walls bare, but here, the walls were covered in paintings of the family, their ancestors, the trees, and more abstract pictures. There were small trinkets on the mantle of the fireplace that Kevin assumed each held some deeply personal and meaningful story. The brightly colored blankets were smoothly worn and as he lifted them he could see the engravings on the chairs, probably from Bobby or maybe from John and his boys. Kevin closed his eyes and let the warmth of the fire and the smell of wood and wine drift him off to sleep. 

After what felt like only a couple moments, a large, but gentle hand clasped over his shoulder and his eyes burst open to find Sam smiling, leaning over him, his face half bright from the fire and half shadowed. “Sorry to wake you, did you still want to go? It’s nearly dinner time.” 

“What? How long have I…” Kevin looked around to see that Dean, John, and Castiel were gone, probably cooking if the smell was to be believed, and the alter was standing on its own now. Jamie, Polly, and The Doctor were folding small brightly colored sacks on the couch, chatting quietly together while Ben and Anna were nowhere to be seen. 

“It’s been a couple hours. I didn’t want to wake you up, but I thought you might be getting hungry….”

“Oh, yeah, thank you. Sorry, must have been all that walking today.” 

“An where are you two off to?” Jamie asked curiously and Polly grinned while The Doctor just continued his work innocently. 

“Oh, we were going to the Roadhouse, did you all want to come too?”

“Isn’t that where Ben went with Anna?” Polly asked Jamie and Jamie nodded, “Aye, I think so.” 

“Let’s go.” Polly said finishing the sack she was working on before standing up. At some point, it seemed she had changed clothes and she was now in a short, tight, checkered light pink dress. She looked even more beautiful than usual and Kevin couldn’t help but wonder what made her change. Did someone catch her attention too? He wouldn’t be surprised though, this place was more romantic than he had really wanted to give it credit for. 

Still, he had been hoping to get Sam alone, but before he could say anything Jamie had already added, “Ok, sounds good. You’re coming too, right Doctor?” 

“Hm, I’m alright, thank you Jamie. I think I’d rather like to finish these.”

“That’s code for you going snooping isn’t it?” Jamie scolded and The Doctor gave an overly innocent that only seemed to present his guilt, “No, Jamie I won’t be going snooping. I just wish to know a bit more about this place, that’s all.” 

“If you have any questions, anyone from my family would be happy to answer them Doctor.” Sam said genuinely and The Doctor nodded, “Thank you Sam, I will be sure to call on them.” 

Sam smiled and looked around, “Shall we then?” 

Sam, Kevin, Polly, and Jamie headed ‘down the path’. “So, the Roadhouse is owned by a woman named Ellen Harvelle, she’s tough, but trust me, she’s a big softy under that. You met Bobby Singer today right? That’s her husband. Their daughter Jo is to inherit the place eventually, so she is usually in there training as well.” They neared a large cottage that was practically shaking with music and cheerful voices. Sam smiled wide at it, “This is one of the most popular gathering places in our community, but there is usually still room for a few more.” Sam said with a smile and opened the door for them. 

Polly, Jamie and Kevin walked in to find a decent sized bar, surrounded by tall wooden chairs, a dance area, a few scattered tables, and a small band in the corner playing what looked like homemade instruments. Behind the counter, a woman in her mid-40s called out, “Sam Campbell you get over here and give me a hug. I haven’t seen you in weeks, boy!” 

Sam smiled as the woman came up and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek when he bent down for her. “Let me guess, busy preparing for the wedding?”

“Yes ma’am.” Sam said with a smile and she patted his cheek, “Well, you just let me know what you want help with. We can bring the food and drinks for the party, just have Dean and Cas bring a menu, and you tell your daddy he can’t say no, Mary is too busy to do it and Dean doesn’t need to be cooking for his own wedding.” 

“Yes ma’am, I’m sure they’d be honored if you cooked for them.” 

“Well come on in and pick a table, I’ll grab you and our visitors some menus.” Sam nodded and waved back to Jo, who remained behind the bar. She was young and beautiful with golden curls and a powerful presence. 

“Come on.” Sam said leading them to a table. Kevin settled in his chair and noticed Polly looking around. Kevin looked around as well and couldn’t find Ben. “Maybe they went somewhere else?” Kevin suggested and Polly’s attention was pulled back to the table, “Yeah, looks like it. Well he’s a big boy, he can take care of himself…probably.”

“No- usually.” Jamie said with a grin and Polly looked at him with worry, making him instantly retract his statement. “I’m just kidding, he’s probably fine.” 

“If he’s with Anna, I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Sam added and Polly nodded. Ellen came up to the table with enough menus for each of them. “Come up to the bar and order when you’re ready, ok?”

“Alright.” Sam helped them get through the menu, though there wasn’t a lot, it was filled with unfamiliar types of meat and varieties of the planet’s homebrew Tangled Branches. They ordered, drank, ate, and chatted over the music for hours. Eventually, Ben and Anna were forgotten and Polly was pulling Jamie out to the dance floor. Finally, Kevin and Sam were alone. Kevin, lightly buzzed and energized from the beer, quickly tried to think of what to say, but before he could think of anything Sam moved closer to talk to him over the small wooden table. 

“So, tell me more about your adventures.” Sam asked, his smile slightly lopsided from the alcohol. Kevin laughed, “Well, I could tell you about my first trip I did for an article, I ended up knee deep in fire ants. Or, the time I lived on a submarine for a month to look for a mystery creature in the oceans of Earth 2.4. Oh, or the time I survived a dalek attack?” Sam’s eyes were wide with wonder and Kevin smirked, “But that would be boring. I think we should trade stories.” 

Sam blushed, which was probably the most beautiful thing Kevin had ever seen, well, that probably wasn’t fair considering his travels, but Kevin was sure that Sam was at least the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. “I don’t really have any. I’ve always lived here.” 

 

“Well, stories of here are fine. It’s only fair if I tell you this much about myself, that you tell me about you too.” Kevin teased as he traced his eyes along every line of Sam he could see, feeling need pulsing through him as he longed to reach out and touch Sam with his alcohol heated skin. Instead he bit his bottom lip half to control himself and half to tease Sam, who for all he knew had absolutely no interest in him, but fuck it Kevin was going for it. Romance, take your time. He reminded himself of Ben’s, seemingly successful tactics. 

“That is fair, but honestly any stories about here are just going to be boring. It’s always the same here, the same people, the same food, the same traditions, year after year, but you, you get to explore all over the place. That’s amazing, there must be so much out there.” Despite the wonder and longing in his eyes, Sam’s brows tightened in frustration and instantly the mood was killed. Kevin scolded himself as he looked Sam over one more time trying to find hope of restoring the mood; when he realized the mood was sufficiently dead, he set his beer bottle down. 

“There is, if you’re that curious about it, why don’t you ever go out there? Maybe take a trip or something?” Kevin asked, without really thinking of whether or not he was being insensitive, which he realized when Sam’s smile fell. 

“We can’t leave. The shuttles are only for tourists to come and go, it would cost too much to take one of those seats for our own. Plus, to keep the community running, we are all needed. I can’t leave them.”

“That’s…unfair.” Kevin said, still not really thinking properly about his words, but he was sure that someone this beautiful and kind deserved whatever he wanted, not that the rest of the universe would have a chance against his charm. 

“It’s what it is.” Sam shrugged, “Our roots run deep here. Yours do too don’t they? I didn’t mean to overhear, but you were talking to your mom this morning right?” 

Kevin blushed wondering just how much Sam had heard, but Sam’s smile returning was reassuring. “Yeah,” he finally admitted. “We are pretty close. My dad was never around, so it was always just us. My mom always really pushed me and supported me. It could be a bit much sometimes, well most of the time actually, but I love her.” 

“She sounds amazing.” 

“She certainly thinks so.” Kevin teased, smiling a bit as he thought of his fierce and loving mother. 

“Isn’t it hard being away from her?”

“Not really. I mean things are different on New Earth. Everyone lives in this giant city, but I can go months without seeing her. I get sent all over the place too, so I don’t really get a lot of time to be home. Because of all that, I don’t really have any other…roots. I spent so much time trying to get ahead in my career that I never really had a lot of time to make friends or anything. Even if I did, New Earth is a bit of a cesspool, really. It’s all about getting laid and partying hard, or not having enough to survive on. Not a whole lot of middle ground. Most people don’t waste their time on making real connections, they just do what they have to at the time with people that are there.” At that moment Kevin noticed Sam’s stunned face and he apologized, “Sorry, I know that is probably really disillusioning to hear.”

“Yeah, most people stick to the good stuff in their stories, but honestly, it’s nice to hear the truth. Knowing that it isn’t all good out there makes it a bit easier.” Sam looked down at his beer where he had been tugging at the label restlessly. 

“It’s not all good anywhere, I guess.” Kevin admitted looking at Sam and how clearly caged he felt. 

“Yeah. But, I guess it’s like you said, people do what they can with what they have.” Sam looked out at Polly and Jamie on the dance floor as they drunkenly moved to the music, laughing and stumbling over one another’s toes. “Want to join them?” 

“Alright.” 

The group spent the rest of the evening drinking and dancing as they forgot about their worries, obligations, and fears. For that moment, nothing else mattered or existed. Kevin twirled Polly, and tugged playfully at Jamie’s skirt, and stared in awe of Sam’s beauty. He took a few more pictures that night, pictures that he knew he would cherish when he went back to his empty apartment or got sent on yet another assignment. 

Eventually, they returned to the Inn. Polly headed to her own room, Jamie tried to sneak quietly into the room he shared with The Doctor, bumping something loud over on the way in and Kevin headed down the hall to his room. He was nearly there when he heard a door slam below, followed by voices. He looked around the empty hallway and then pressed his tablet down to the floor, turning on a high powered recording app. When the voices went quiet he stopped the recording, pulled out some headphones and walked into his room. Ben was already asleep in bed, so he moved to his own bed and listened to the recording. He could recognize a woman speaking to John Winchester.

“Here, sit down, let me get you something to drink.”

“I’m alright, I just, couldn’t handle anymore of Naomi’s business talk. She really won’t let it go, she wants to start going from community to community to try and get the people on her side to convince the rest of the council.”

“Well that won’t happen, she wants to betray our entire culture, our way of life, no one will agree to that. It would be agreeing to slaughter.”

“I want to believe that John, but would everyone really understand that? Would they really say no, even if doing it meant easier lives for everyone? With her plan, in our children’s lifetimes, they would never have to worry about food or electricity again. As a planet, we could do anything, we could put up satellites to give us even more control over the weather and atmosphere. We could give ourselves more or less contact with the outside world. Anything. But it would just open the door for more greed and more violence. Things would never stop, it would be a slaughter, and I don’t know if people would realize that when faced with the possibility of safety and luxury." 

“Mary, Mary, come here. It’s ok, have faith in us. We won’t let it happen. People will listen to you over Naomi.”

“I think she plans to move quickly, she knows Dean is getting married, what if she-“

“It’s going to be fine. Whatever she does, we’ll figure it out.” 

“I love you.” 

“I love you, too.” The exhausted voices gave away to what sounded like a kiss and Kevin shut off the recording. This had potential, like definitely get a raise kind of potential. He’d have to look into this more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit rushed as school is getting pretty busy, but I'll still try to finish this.


	4. Widespread Leaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mary takes the group on a tour, Kevin takes the next step to get his story, and a hunt is on.

“Oi, mate, time to get up. It’s morning, not that you could tell around here, eh?” Ben said giving Kevin’s bed a gentle kick, but Kevin just groaned in response and put his pillow over his head. “Come on, don’t be like that. I brought you some water ‘n everything.” Kevin peaked out from under his pillow with squinty, suspicious eyes; when he was awake enough to recognize that Ben was in fact holding water, he managed to push himself up a bit. Ben handed it to him and grabbed his carry on for him, “There ya go, mate. Figured you were gonna need some medicine if you were in as bad as Jamie. I went to wake him and The Doctor up and, get this, Jamie was all curled around his pillow like a baby koala or somethin’.” Ben said with a laugh. 

“At least he was actually IN bed this time.” Kevin said with a shrug, tossing his anti-hangover medicine back and following it with a rush of cold, fresh water. He closed his eyes and slowly let the subtle woodsy flavor lure him awake. His head was pounding, but at least today it hadn’t reached his stomach. Maybe the dancing had helped. Or Sam. Either way really. 

“Yeah, good point. Maybe he’ll actually go to the hot springs with us today, by the way he smelled, I bet you he didn’t bother getting cleaned up yesterday. Poor ol' Doctor, I don’t know how he managed to stay so damn chipper sleepin' next to that.”

Kevin smiled at that and put the water on his bed stand, wincing a bit as he righted himself, “So, what about you?”

Ben lifted an eyebrow, “What about me?”

“You and Anna. Did you…have fun last night?” Kevin asked with a suggestive grin. 

Ben seemed to blush before he turned away and started rummaging aimlessly through his bag, but Kevin couldn’t be sure. “It was alright, I guess. I mean, we were having a pretty good time, but she got a call and just took off.” Ben shrugged and looked back at Kevin, with what looked like a somewhat forced smile, “Ah well, that’s the way it goes, birds like that got ‘em lined up around the block, eh?” 

Kevin gave a polite half smile, “Yeah, guess so.” 

“Anyway, might as well go get cleaned up and grab breakfast. I heard something about another press-only tour today.”

“Oh? I thought we were joining the regular group for a tour of the water sources today?” 

“Don’t ask me, mate, Castiel mentioned it in the hallway a bit ago. Guess it was some change in the schedule or something?” Then it all came back to Kevin: the recording, Mary Campbell’s sudden early return, and his opportunity for a real story and a raise. Kevin suddenly felt hyper aware and awake. If this new tour was with Mary, he needed to be ready. 

“Ah, I’ll do that. I uhm, better clear some space on my camera first. Do I have some time before you go to the hot springs?”

“Yeah, I still gotta wake up Pol and Jamie. The Doctor’s probably wandered off now, too. I’ll swing by when everyone’s ready.” 

“Thanks, Ben.” Kevin gave him a brief smile and Ben returned it before leaving the room. Kevin waited for a moment, he couldn’t be too careful. 

When he was sure Ben wasn’t coming back, he got out of bed and looked under it for his larger suitcase. With a few rough tugs, he dragged the heavy weight across a creaking and crying wooden floor. 

He settled himself on the floor in front of it and entered a code to open the digital lock sealing it. Inside was all of his emergency equipment. Night gear, spare camera lenses with a variety of zooming qualities, code-cracking machines, lock-picking machines, psychic-paper, small cameras and microphones he could put in the lining of his jacket, and there, just what he needed, invisible, self-destructing bugs. If he could plant a couple of these where Mary would be working, he could find out what was going on. From the first recording, it sounded like some sort of dirty political agenda, something that was going to cost a lot of lives to benefit those left behind, i.e. the people in on it. Not only would a scandal like this sell for a huge amount, but he could do some good in exposing it. Hell, he might even win an award for getting the dirt on the most romantic planet in the galaxy. Win-win. 

He checked that the bugs worked, made sure they were set to self-destruct upon detection or via remote and slipped them in his jacket pocket and headed down to the dining room where he found Jamie standing quietly beside Ben as he spoke to Polly, who was apparently having breakfast with one of the other tourists – the nature enthusiast. 

“What do you mean, you already went? When?” Ben asked, probably louder than he had meant to, and Polly just shrugged and licked cream from her spoon before setting it on a napkin beside what like hot chocolate, “Earlier. I was up early, so I went. It’s not like it matters if we go together, I’d be in a separate spring anyway. 

“Well you could’ve woken us up or something.”

“You’re a big boy Ben, you can get yourself up.” 

“What is with you today, Pol?” 

“Nothing, so if you are done snapping at me, why don’t you take the others to get cleaned up while I finish having breakfast with my new friend here.” Polly averted her eyes to the man across from her and gave him a sweet smile, the kind that could probably make any awkward situation worth sticking it out for. Kevin looked the man over, he looked about early 30s and had an exceptionally chiseled jaw, something Kevin hadn’t noticed when he was glaring at the man for making bird calls during their forest tour yesterday. Was this the man Polly had dressed up for? He didn’t remember seeing him at the Roadhouse. Either way, it wasn’t his business. 

“Fine, we will. You have your fun, duchess. Let’s go Jamie.” 

“Huh? Oh, Aye.” Jamie responded, clearly not having paid attention to any of the conversation. When Ben spotted Kevin he grinned, “Hey, ready to go? Guess it’s just the three of us today, but that’s just fine, ain’t it.” He was speaking louder than he probably meant to again, or by looking at Polly’s irritated face, maybe he had meant to be loud that time. 

“Sure.” Kevin grinned as Ben wrapped an arm around his and Jaime’s shoulders, pulling them from the room. They showed Jamie everything he needed to know about the system at the hot spring, took their quick showers and met in the passion fruit scented water. The smell was nice, but bathing in red water was a little perturbing, especially when Jamie kept insisting that it looked like blood, which naturally led to Ben teasing him by pretending to die. Kevin may or may not have played along at the end.

When they got back to the Inn they barely caught the end of breakfast. The regular tour group had already left on their tour with Anna and Samandriel, so they had the dining room to themselves. Sam was moving through the dining room, collecting plates and mugs while Dean served them their food personally. 

Kevin watched Sam as he worked while Ben chatted with Jamie. He admired the grace Sam moved with in the morning, piling the plates high and never bumping the tables in his path, despite being such a giant. Sam was probably a morning person. He wondered what Sam looked like in real, natural light. His hair probably glowed under pale morning sunlight. Kevin tried to imagine what Sam’s eyes would look like when facing something more than simple lantern light; he couldn’t help but imagine sunflowers and the wreath nebula. Sam would probably love to see the wreath nebula, Kevin was sure he must still have some pictures saved on his tablet. 

Just as he got caught up in thoughts of finding the pictures for Sam, real Sam actually glanced his way. Kevin instantly froze, but the minute Sam smiled at him he melted and smiled back. “Did you sleep well?” Sam asked as he gathered a few more plates for his tower. 

“Yeah, you?” Kevin asked, not totally sure of what he was even saying. 

“Yeah.” Sam replied quietly, as if even across the room his voice would only reach Kevin. Kevin felt his cheeks burn a bit, he wanted to continue the conversation, but he had no idea what to say, and just like that his window of opportunity was over and Sam took the plates into the kitchen. 

“You have got it bad, don’t ya mate.” Ben said grinning and Kevin commanded his blush to subside as he returned to his food, “No, I don’t have anything bad.”

“Uh huh.” 

Jamie looked between them confused, “What’s he got bad? Are ye sick?” 

“No Jamie, I’m not sick.” Ben burst into laughter at that and Jamie just narrowed his eyebrows demanding an answer, but Ben just slapped his back playfully, laughing harder. Kevin shook his head and returned to his breakfast. Part of him wished he had caught that moment on camera though. 

After breakfast, the group was gathered in the lobby where Castiel was carving a design on the alter and Dean was writing at the table, well he had been previously, now he just had his head against it in defeat. John and Mary Campbell had been waiting for them. Now, getting a better look at her, Kevin realized how beautiful she was. Her sons seemed to have inherited her bright eyes and blonde hair, and mixed in their father’s strong build. Beyond genetics, they seemed like a good pair. The way they stood showed warmth, love, and respect. 

As their society was matriarchal, Mary was the power in this family, and more than that she was apparently the community leader, but seeing her here in her home, she clearly gained support and strength from her family. Seeing the love between the family, Kevin couldn’t help but think of his mother and wonder about his own father. He was just a faceless, nameless man that his mother wouldn’t talk about. Was he alive? Did he even know Kevin existed? Would he even care? Kevin couldn’t help but doubt that he would. Still, it was something he'd always wonder about. 

“Welcome everyone, I’m sorry I wasn’t here to greet you when you first arrived. I’m Mary Campbell, the head of the Campbell family and the representative of Occulta Caelum.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m The Doctor, and this is Ben, Polly, Jamie, and Kevin.” The Doctor said offering his hand. Mary shook it with a surprised laugh when The Doctor shook a bit more energetically than she seemed to have been expecting. Kevin probably should have introduced himself, but it felt good to be grouped in with them, so he let it go. Besides, it might make it easier for him to blend into the background and get his bugs in place. 

“The pleasure is all mine. Please, let me take you to the meeting hall.” 

They walked ‘down the path’ to a large cottage that was tucked under one of the largest trees Kevin had seen yet, and that was saying something considering most of the trees had trunks the size of small hover cars. This tree was also in full bloom and every branch was decorated lavishly with ice ornaments and lanterns. 

Polly walked forward with her eyes and mouth wide, “It’s beautiful.” 

“Aye…” Jamie agreed, his eyes as wide as Polly’s. 

“It’s meant to inspire hope and unity. This tree is our community tree, the family tree of Occulta Caelum, so to speak. When we celebrate the trees, or tend to them, this tree always takes priority. This tree belongs to everyone, so when we have problems that we cannot tell our families or friends, many people come to this tree for guidance and solace.”

“Like a church?” Jamie asked and Mary smiled, “As we take care of the trees, they take care of us.”

“Do your people worship the trees then?” The Doctor asked curiously.

“No, our gods come from our ancestors, though we have forgotten the details and stories. The trees live alongside us as sisters and brothers, we care for one another in our own ways. They listen to us, protect us, guide us, but they are not gods.” 

“I’m surprised this society hasn’t turned to ancestor worship, with how important you hold your family lines.” The Doctor said, as if thinking out loud as he wiped his hands with his handkerchief. 

“We, our selves, are not gods either, nor do we believe we could ever be. Gods, are something far removed from us, but in times of trouble, they grant us a miracle.” The Doctor smiled, seeming to accept Mary’s words with respect and awe. Kevin had been to many planets and heard of many gods, each interesting in their own way. New Earth had no primary religion or culture, which followed in traditional with the original Earth, from what the history books said. People had such a variety and mixture of culture and religion that most people didn’t really talk about it outside of their families. Kevin’s family had some traditions and holidays that related back to some ancient religion or another, but he and his mother didn’t really believe any of it. It was just nice to have traditions to look forward to every year and some extra days off. Still, he found the idea of religion interesting. He wished he could believe in gods, he imagined the idea was probably very comforting. 

Once again, Kevin’s thoughts had gotten away from him and he missed the beginning of Mary’s speech as she led them into the meeting hall. The area wasn’t as big as he had expected, probably barely big enough for every citizen in the community to sit tightly together. The interesting thing was, that instead of traditional chairs and a floor, this cottage was open along the bottom, so they were still walking on dirt and roots. The roots curled up to create seats in an amphitheater format, leaving space for a speaker. Kevin took a few pictures moving around to look more closely at the roots.

“We don’t meet often,” Mary’s voice cut through Kevin’s thoughts and recaptured his attention, “maybe just once every few months, unless something comes up that we need to work out. As the community leader, I am given the power to make decisions on behalf of the community, but it would be wrong of me to make any major decisions without addressing it with my people and hearing their opinions.” Kevin wondered if that included whatever plan she had spoken to her husband about. 

Mary moved them further into the cottage to a small office attached behind the amphitheater. The furniture was fairly simple, there were a couple cabinets and a desk, but the really eye catching part of the room was the engraving on the wall behind the desk. There, cut into the wood were thousands of leaves of all sizes and shapes, blowing from the center as if by a strong wind. “They say, the community leader’s leaves must be blown wide.” 

Kevin glanced at her and saw she was smiling at the engraving along with the others. He took a few pictures of it. “From this room, I balance the needs and supplies of my community. I make sure people get what they need, whether it’s supplies, food, tools, or heirs. I find what we have an extra supply of and offer trades with the other communities. I balance our budget from the exports, royalties, and tourism with our imports and energy needs.” 

Kevin’s hand went to his hand and he began handling the bugs as he went around the room, pretending to take a closer look at the carvings. “How impressive, do the exports, tourism, and royalties cover your energy needs? I imagine with a planet wide atmospheric controller, you would need quite a lot of energy,” The Doctor asked making his way around the room as well.

“You have no idea.” Mary replied. 

“Do you think they keep adding to the wall? Some of these leaves look newer than others.” Polly said quietly to Jamie. 

“Must be.” He traced a finger along one of the leaves. 

“None of the trees here even have leaves do they?” Ben pointed out and Polly looked over at him for a moment, but stayed quiet and quickly looked away. It seemed like whatever was going on with them, was still there. 

“It’s true, the only plants we have that have leaves are those in our green house. Originally, the carvings were of pine cones, but there were a lot of…jokes about the office needing widespread seed. Even my grown sons still laugh about that.” Mary said with a sigh as Ben and Polly snickered quietly. 

“Eh? Oh!” It took him a moment, but when Jamie got it he burst out laughing. This of course, set everyone else off. Kevin’s hand tightened on the bug in his pocket and took that moment to slip one of the bugs onto the inner paneling of Mary’s desk. 

When the laughter died down, Mary continued to explain how the 25 communities worked similarly to how each single community worked. They listened to each other’s needs and took care of each other. Supplies were traded once a month and everything that was imported was split up evenly. Sometimes, when a community didn’t have enough children for heirs, other communities would supply them with extra children. Kevin assumed this also kept the bloodlines fresh. When planet-wide decisions had to be made, each of the 25 representatives would learn the opinion of their community and take it with them to the meeting with the others representatives. It was a simple majority rule for most decisions, but truly large or life changing decisions needed 90% approval to go through. 

“Hmm, I understand that everything here seems to work very nicely and everyone works together so well, but I can’t help thinking about how painful it must be for the family’s to be parted with their children.” Polly said thoughtfully and Mary smiled at her as she probably would a naïve child, “We all have our place and our duty, we must go where we can serve that best. None of these children grow up thinking they were thrown out or stolen, they are considered apprentices. They are allowed to meet their birth family if they wish and even grow close to them. Others consider their adopted family, their real family. Each case is special and treated with care. No child is ever taken from a family that doesn’t already have children and they are never taken without permission.” 

“But everyone always agrees don’t they.” Polly asked a bit forcefully. 

“Yes, we have never had anyone refuse, but to be honest, it’s not that common of an occurrence. The most recent I can remember was 20 years ago when one of Chuck’s sons, Lucifer, was sent as an infant to a community who needed a light-bringer.”

“A light-bringer?” Ben asked and Mary explained, “That is someone who tends the lanterns.”

“And Chuck didn’t mind?” Polly asked.

“Not at all. By giving him away, Lucifer has a place where he is needed and a family that loves him. He’s never even come to visit.” 

“That just sounds so strange and sad. Doesn’t Chuck ever wonder about him?”

“Chuck has more than enough children to keep his eye on and that’s not even adding in his sister Amara’s children, let’s just say that that family has been generously blessed. I have to admit, I’m a bit jealous. Soon, I’m going to have to take in a child to begin training for my role. I’ve put it off longer than most, hoping that I might still be blessed, but, unfortunately, it was not meant to be.” 

“Wait, so Sam can’t take your position?” Kevin asked, suddenly making a connection that sparked his heart with hope. 

Mary looked down, “No, only women can be community representatives.” 

“Probably good they changed that seed thing then, eh Doctor?” Jamie teased, leaning close to The Doctor only to get a scolding look in return. 

Kevin put his hand up, “Wait, so if Dean is taking over the Inn, then what is Sam’s role.”

“Well, the Inn does need several workers, but whether or not Sam remains in that role after Dean marries Castiel is up to him. If he does not feel needed at the Inn, he will take on a new role. Bobby has been looking for an apprentice, it would be a good match, I think, but that’s still all undecided.”

That changed everything, Sam was free wasn’t he? Without a role, he could leave couldn’t he? At least for a little while? 

“Well if there are no more questions, let’s move on shall we?” Kevin could hardly focus for the rest of the tour, after all, his daydreams of traveling the universe with Sam were too perfect to abandon for the sake of real life. 

After the tour, they returned to the Inn while Mary went back to her office. Dean and John were in dark leathers, lined with fur, and covered in weaponry. From what he could see, they had bows, knives, and automatic, electric harpoons. Castiel was fastening Dean’s electric harpoon onto his back for him and when he finished Dean turned around, cupped Castiel’s face in his hand and pulled him forward for a soft, long kiss. Jamie looked at them uncomfortably and went red, his eyes glinting with something Kevin couldn’t quite read as Jamie looked between the couple and The Doctor. 

“May I ask, what you are preparing for?” The Doctor asked, completely unaware of Jamie’s attention, and John looked at him as Sam handed him a pack of what Kevin assumed was more knives or rations, “Hunting. We gotta go out and get our weeks’ worth of meat.” The Doctor responded with a brief ‘Ah’ and began inspecting their equipment.

“Cross your fingers for a mire beast, babe.” Dean said giving Castiel another quick kiss, pulling him close. 

“You are the only one who enjoys mire beast, Dean, and it’s only because you find them to be a challenge. Don’t force our guests to eat it for a week just because you like killing them.” Castiel scolded. 

“Pfft, it’s practically mandatory, you come to Earth 2.8, you gotta eat mire beast at least once.” Dean said with a wide grin, his face staying close to Castiel’s. 

“Do as you must.” Castiel said, giving in, and Dean pulled him in for another kiss. 

“Alright, save it for after the wedding, or for when I’m retired, please. We got hunting to do.” John said patting Dean on the back. Dean rolled his eyes, “Fine, just one more, you know, for luck. Make it a good one, Cas.” 

Dean leaned in and Cas leaned away and pressed his fingers on Dean’s chest, “They aren’t all good ones?” 

Dean blushed and gave Cas a lopsided smile, his eyes ever over pouring with love and reverence, “Well yeah, I just mean, you know, an extra good one,” he teased, looking Cas up and down, which apparently for Castiel, was enough. Castiel's fingers turned into a fist as he pulled his fiancé close by his leather armor and obscenely licked his way into Dean’s mouth until Dean was moaning and holding onto Castiel’s shoulders for dear life. 

“Gross, guys.” Sam teased playfully and threw a washcloth at them.” Dean made a sign with his fingers behind Castiel’s back, which Kevin assumed was obscene on this planet. 

“Boys, I’m done waitin’.” John said firmly, but his hint of a smile showed the pride he felt that his eldest son had found someone to love him that much. 

Then with the same sudden motion that he took him, Castiel released the hunter and smiled, looking Dean over with a somewhat intense meaningful gaze, that Kevin couldn’t imagine being on the end of, “Good luck, Dean.”

Dean was clearly breathless as he gave his goofy smile to his fiancé, “Uh huh, see you later, Cas.” 

John opened the door to go and suddenly Jamie took a step towards them, “Wait, uh, could I come with ye? I’m pretty good at hunting myself ‘n I could use the fresh air.”

John looked at Dean, who shrugged, “We got extra gear.” 

“Ok, go get him dressed then.” 

“I dinnae need anything else, I always hunt like this. Got my dirk too, so I don- need your fancy…” Jamie trailed off and motioned with his hands to explain that he was talking about the harpoon. 

“You’ll need more than that if we find a mire beast, son. You want to come, you’ll have proper equipment.” John stated firmly.

Kevin thought about it, he wasn’t really an aggressive person and the idea of hunting wasn’t really exciting for him, but he could probably get some good action shots if he went. Action shots always sold well. “Uhm, can I come too? I won’t hunt or anything, just, I’d like to take some pictures, if you don’t mind.” 

John sighed, “Alright, is that the last one or do anymore of you want to go?”

“No thank you.” Polly said quickly. The Doctor pressed his hands together, folding them, “As much as I appreciate the offer, I must decline as well.” Ben shrugged, “Nah, mate, I’m good.” 

“Alright, well, good. We only got two spare suits anyway. Castiel, Sam can you two help ‘em out?” 

“Of course.” Castiel said obediently and headed upstairs, Sam motioned to Kevin and Jamie to follow them and went up as well. Upstairs, they gathered in a spare bedroom where Castiel and Sam piled up their gear. As Jamie would actually be hunting, he was given Castiel’s equipment. Though Castiel was a few inches taller than Jamie, the size was close enough that he would be able to move well in it. Jamie went to change separately and then Castiel began helping him with his weapons and tools, explaining as he went. 

Meanwhile, beside them, Sam settled on the bed next to his gear. “This is…not going to fit you at all.” Sam said laughing as he held up his armored shirt to Kevin’s body. It would have been like wearing a long pajama shirt…made of leather. 

“Uhm, no, I don’t think it will. But do I really need it? I’m just going to stay in the back.”

“The mire beasts, I told you they were like octopuses right? Well they spray poisonous ink and enough of it could actually kill you. This armor is lined with a special protective layer that soaks up any liquids and cleanses them.” 

 

“Oh…” 

“What you could do, is just wear the shirt and wear your own pants. I mean, it’s going to be like wearing a tent, but, you’ll be safer.” Sam said with a smile, looking up at Kevin and Kevin nodded obediently, “Ok.” With that smile, he probably couldn’t have refused Sam, even if the man had told him to actually wear a tent. 

Sam practically beamed, “Great! Here. Go put it on and I’ll get you all geared up, you won’t really need the weapons, but you never know what’ll happen and it’s better to be prepared right?” 

“Right.” Kevin echoed as he took Sam’s armor to another room to change. He kept a tight under shirt on to keep the leather from chaffing, and then pulled on the giant armor piece. The leather was surprisingly light feeling, but he wasn’t use to how stiff it was. The leather went halfway down his thighs and his hands were completely swallowed, but if he pushed the sleeves up he could still man his camera. He ran his hands over the armor and wondered what Sam looked like wearing it. He breathed in the scent of the leather and imagined that Sam’s scent was hidden in there as his hand wandered up and down the leather. 

He began to feel the heat rise, just as there was a knock on the door. “Did you get it on ok? Do you need help?” Damn, he should have asked for help. 

Either way, he still got to be manhandled by Sam, as he was sufficiently ‘geared up’. Sam told him where and what everything was as he went, fastening some rope and a net to his sides, then the bow and the harpoon. He daydreamed of turning and kissing Sam like Dean had done to Castiel when he heard the harpoon click into place on his shoulder holster. Last, Sam handed him a leg holster for his knife. 

“So, this part, you just have to tighten the belts around your thigh wherever it’s comfortable.” Kevin grinned as he looked at Sam, Sam was actually blushing, “Do you uhm, need help?” Sam continued quietly, his brows lifted and his eyes lowered, not meeting Kevin’s. This beautiful man would totally do it too, all Kevin had to do was ask, but he wasn’t sure he could handle having Sam that close to his crotch, after all, the very idea was already making him hard and Sam probably wouldn’t appreciate that. Wouldn’t he? No, probably not. Maybe. No. Say no. He’s just offering to be nice. Kevin debated with himself for a moment as a thousand pictures of Sam tightening the straps over his thigh filled his head and finally, unable to deny Sam with words, he took the holster and fastened it onto his own leg while his entire body screamed at him. 

“Like this?” Kevin finally squeaked out, standing to make sure the holster didn’t fall. Sam smiled looking it over and under his scrutiny Kevin found himself needing to bite his lip to stay in control. 

“Looks good. Here, just need the knife now.” Without a word or conversation or argument, Sam bent down and put the knife in the holster, his fingers ghosting over Kevin’s thigh as he did so. Lightning bolts shot through his leg and up through his entire body, reaching his throat and making him give a tiny whimper. Sam smiled at that, keeping his head bowed for a moment before standing up again, “Be careful out there. Stay close to Dean, he’ll keep you safe.”

Kevin nodded, “Yeah, I uhm, I will.” The pain between his legs made it hard to walk, but he was damned if he wasn’t going to walk out of there with at least a little dignity. He held himself tall and headed out to meet the others. 

As they walked through the thick roots, Kevin glanced at Jamie. “You know, finally seeing you in pants, I have to say, I kind of miss the skirt.”

“It’s no- a skirt, it’s a kilt!” Jamie insisted and Kevin laughed. 

“Shh.” Dean said holding his fist up in some kind of sign he probably assumed we would recognize. He looked around and glanced at his father. “Hear that?” 

“It’s too far off for now, keep moving.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

They continued that way for what felt like hours, moving through the dark trees, so deep that Kevin was sure they would never get back, but the other three men kept their ears and eyes peeled for any sign of life. The further they went, the less lanterns there were and soon there was only one every few minutes. Kevin cursed himself for bringing the wrong lens, there was no way he was going to get any good shots like this. With a sigh he looked around and noticed Jamie’s intense focus. When his curiosity finally burst, he moved close to him. 

“Jamie, can I ask you why you wanted to come?” Kevin asked quietly and Jamie glanced at him before looking back to the trees, “Because, I like hunting. Working together to feed everyone, it’s good work. We can pay them back for their hospitality this way, too.”

“That’s really the only reason?”

“Well, I might have been getting a tad bored too. Gotta get the blood moving ye know?”

“I see. You said you were a soldier right?”

“Aye, I was. I grew up in a war and then I started traveling with The Doctor. He got me out of there, saved me, showed me how much more there was than just fighting, like reading and adventuring and saving people. But resting around like this, I’m no- use to it. I dinnae think The Doctor is either, he’s getting restless, too. But Ben and Polly are different, they need this, so I think we are gonna stay the whole month. An’ if that’s the case then, I want to at least be doing something useful ye know?”

“I think I understand.” 

There was a quiet whistle in the distance, then a flutter of wings, followed by a squishing sound. Dean and John stopped in their tracks and Jamie moved close, “We got something?”

“Yeah, think so.” Dean listened for a moment. Next there was a gurgling, chocking noise followed by another deep whistle.”

“Mire beast.” Dean grinned. John rolled his eyes, “Alright, let’s move carefully.” 

“Kevin, stay close, if you see the mire beast, back up and stay behind me and dad ok?”

“Ok, sounds good to me.”

They moved forward and the gurgling stopped. Dean and John shared a knowing glance and prepared their harpoons. Jamie pulled out his dirk and hunched over a bit. Kevin remained behind them and tried a few test shots, just in case, but nothing would turn out without the flash and that seemed like a terrible idea on a hunt. 

Another long whistle went off, this time behind them making all three hunters turn on their heels. Yet another whistle went off from another direction catching their attention again. 

“Kevin, get between us.” Dean said quietly and the three hunters made a triangle space for Kevin to slip in. Kevin’s heart was pounding in his throat now as the whistles seem to get closer. The squishing, gurgling noise was back too, like something chewing, choking, and slurping. Dean and John turned their harpoon stunners on and the tips of them sparked and hummed with blue electricity as the hunters slowly moved out towards the trees. Jamie followed in suit and took the other direction, leaving Kevin standing alone. 

Soon he caught glimpses of moving shadows in the trees as the low whistles crawled closer. “ACH!” Jamie’s voice called out. Kevin ran in that direction, along with Dean while John covered them. As they pushed through the trees, Jamie screamed again, “Creag an Tuire!” The shout was followed by the sound of struggle. They broke through another thick area, pushing firs from their path and found Jamie on the ground, tangled in the tentacles of a large white octopus like creature. Jamie was stabbing at it with his dirk, but the mire beast seemed to hardly notice. Dean rushed forward and whistled loud, catching the mire beast’s attention, making it loosen its grip on Jamie. 

Jamie crawled away, but was quickly jerked back as a tentacle tightened around his neck, making him gasp wetly for air. Kevin’s eyes went wide and he backed up. Dean grabbed his hunting knife and threw it at the mire beast, hitting it from several feet away, straight in what looked like a swollen eye surrounded by pustules. The creature whistled loudly and shot ink at Dean, who easily rolled out of the way. With a fluid motion that Kevin thought inhuman, Dean landed on his heels and launched at the mire beast, hitting it with the blue electric end of the harpoon, sufficiently stabbing and stunning it at the same time. With one arm and his body holding the harpoon down, Dean used his other hand to pull Jamie from under the struggling mire beast. 

Jamie was flung off to the side where Kevin apprehensively approached him, “Jamie? Are you ok?”

Jamie took several large gulps of air and nodded, coughing, “Aye. I don’t think the ink got me anywhere.” 

They looked back to Dean where the mire beast was flailing so heavily it tossed Dean off and at a tree. The air was torn from Dean's lungs and his head hit hard against the tree before his body slumped down. Then we saw one of Mary’s tiny miracles. Dean had barely regained his breath when the roots of the tree he hit, lifted him up. Back on his feet, he shook his head for clarity and rushed the mire beast again, dodging tentacles, but being sprayed again with ink on his side. 

Jamie rushed back into the fray, “What do ye need?” 

Dean slammed the harpoon back into the mire beast, but a tentacle wrapped around his hands trying to tear the weapon from him. “Can you get the other eye? They go down quick, blind.” 

“Aye, just hold it still.” Jamie called out and dodged another attack from the tentacles and rushed forward to stab the other eye with his dirk as it squirmed, whistling desperately. Dean and Jamie held their position as the tentacles continued to flap for a while more, but eventually it went down. 

“Is…it dead?” Kevin asked, the smell of pus, blood, poison ink was rancid. 

“Yeah, it’s dead.” Dean said, pulling his harpoon out. As Kevin got closer he realized the body and head of the monster was huge and the tentacles had to be at least 8 feet long. It was an odd animal to see out of the ocean, but the way its body slipped over the ground had reminded him of a centipede. 

“Kevin, Jamie, you stay here. I gotta check on dad.” 

“Aye.” Jamie said, still out of breath as he wiped his dirk off on his leather covered legs. “You alright?” 

“Yeah, I just, I mean I knew hunting was…” Kevin wasn’t sure how he felt about all of it, he couldn’t look at the beast so he kept his eyes on Jamie. 

It seemed like they had waited for hours, but it couldn’t have been that long before Dean and John returned. “Well?” Jamie asked. 

“Got away, but at least we got one. If we head back, we should be home before the day is over. Good kill, son.” 

“Thank you sir.” Dean said proudly as he grabbed the mire beast, “You are gonna make a damn fine dinner, aren't you.” John rolled his eyes a bit, “Cut it up so we can carry it already, or there won’t be time for dinner.”

Dean used his hunting knife to take the tentacles off. John took the tentacles as they took more practice handling while Jamie and Dean carried the main carcass. Kevin, simply tried not to breathe through his nose. 

Every now and then they heard whistles or saw movement in the trees. Sometimes birds would dive down and make Kevin jump. But for the most part, the way home was peaceful. 

It took him a while, probably due to pride, Kevin assumed, but finally Jamie spoke to Dean, “Thanks, uh, for earlier, by the way. Ye are way better a fighter than I…uhm, sorry.”

“Nah it’s ok. I’m good, but honestly, you should see Cas. Best damn hunter in the community. He goes out and everything dies, clean too, barely any struggle. Nothing sees him coming. That man could feed all 25 communities without breaking a sweat if he wanted.” 

“Why isn’t he out here then?” Kevin asked and Dean sighed, “He doesn’t like killing. Sam is the same way. They’ll do it, but only if they have to.” 

“I think I get the feeling.” Kevin grumbled quietly, more to himself than anyone else. 

“Damn shame though, especially about Cas, he was a good hunter.” John added.

“Yeah, well, Cas hates it, so it’s good he’s marryin’ me.” Dean said as if he had said it a thousand times. 

“Still a waste, he was born and raised to be a hunter.” 

“Well, Benny is doin’ just fine on his own.” 

“Right, right.” John said giving up on what was most definitely a routine argument between the two. 

“So, was that his role then?” Jamie asked curiously, stirring the pot again. 

“Yeah, he was the community hunter, the one who hunts for those who can’t, but since he’s leaving his family and coming into mine and I’ve got the Inn, he could choose to change and yeah, he practically jumped at the chance.”

“You sure he’s not just using you?” Kevin teased, unable to help himself. 

“Ha, ha.” Dean said dryly, rolling his eyes. 

“But I mean…isn’t it weird…with another…you know?” Jamie started, keeping his head down, even in the dark Kevin could practically feel Jamie’s blush radiating. 

“What? Hell no. Have you seen Cas?” 

“Ok, I’m going on ahead, there are some things a father doesn't need to hear about his son.” John said, doubling his pace. 

“I just mean, dinnae you want a wife and bairns? 

“A wife and what now?” Dean asked and Jamie sighed in frustration, “Children.”

“Oh, me and Cas’ll have kids. Hell, Cas has already been asking around. There is this one woman, she’s about 6 months pregnant, said we could have her baby. They think it’s gonna be a girl too.”

“But it won’t be YOUR bairn.” 

“Yes she will, maybe not from my blood, but family doesn’t end in blood. Here, we say family is like your roots and branches, it's everyone that keeps you alive, supports you, and stays with you.” Dean said, heaving the mire beast up a bit. “Our little Claire-bear is gonna be ours, trust me.” 

“Already got a name picked out?” Kevin asked and Dean laughed, “Yeah, Cas came up with it. Claire Campbell, it’s not bad.” 

“So you really love him then?” Jamie asked seemingly endlessly curious and Dean laughed, “Again, have you seen Cas? What is not to love? The guy is hot as hell, a total badass, and my best friend.” With that thought, something must have echoed true for Jamie, because he dropped it and started talking to Dean about more, ordinary topics, or what was probably ordinary to them anyway. They went on about hunting for a while and then oddly enough to music, which they both seemed to have a passion for. Then about their families and homelands. Kevin half listened, purely to keep calm in the darkness of the forest and eventually, they made it back to the Inn. 

Kevin couldn’t get the leather armor off fast enough. He sighed and rubbed his hands over his eyes, wishing he could take another shower, but he didn’t want to go to the hot spring twice in one day. He waited in line until he could use the bathroom and rinsed his face there. 

He looked at himself in the small chipped mirror, his short black hair was sticking up and he had dark bags under his eyes. Maybe tonight he would skip the beer and go to bed early. He still needed to give Sam his armor back though and have dinner. He should check to see if the bug picked anything up too. Part of him just wanted to call his mom, he was exhausted, nerve-wrecked, and filthy. 

He went back to his room and listened to the bug’s recordings, half falling asleep as he did. There was some quiet humming and a few meetings with community members, one needing some sewing materials, another wanting some tomatoes and a last one wanting to offer up some fish to the community because he got a surplus. Kevin laid back against the wooden floor and sighed, clearly bugging the office wasn’t enough. Maybe she would tell John more. That would mean he’d need to bug the Inn. He had about 3 left, he could try for Mary’s room, the kitchen, and the lobby. Tomorrow, he could do that tomorrow, for now he needed food. 

Weary, he went downstairs to find The Doctor, Jamie, and Polly sitting together having wine.

“Hey, where’s Ben?” Kevin asked as he took a spot next to Polly. 

“With Anna.” Polly said in a cheer drenched in sarcasm. 

“Wait, what?” She had blown him off last night, that didn’t make sense. 

“Yeah, after the regular tour group came back, they went off somewhere.” Polly shrugged. 

“Oh,” was all Kevin could say as he watched Polly finish her glass of wine.

“So how was the hunt?” She asked and Kevin cringed, “Please don’t ask about that. Like ever.” Polly laughed and the mood at the table lighten. 

That night they ate fried mire beast balls, it reminded Kevin of takoyaki. As usual, towards the end of dinner, Castiel played the violin and Sam cleaned up. The only difference was that Jamie called Dean over and they sat talking like they’d known each other for years. Apparently killing something together and taking a walk in the woods will do that? Kevin snapped a couple of pictures as their little group seemed to grow. 

Then, when he finally realized no one was in the kitchen, as tired as he was, he slipped in, looked around quickly, and planted a bug under the edge of a counter. 

“What are you doing?” Castiel’s low, rocky voice called out and Kevin froze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week is gonna get crazy busy, so I figured I'd update before that happened. Thanks to everyone being so supportive <3 I really appreciate it~


	5. Rain and Fog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group experiences their first scheduled rainy day.

Kevin looked up at Castiel and noticed that the man was somewhere between suspicious and worried, he was also still clutching his violin. Kevin could work with this. 

He gave a comfortable yet embarrassed smile, “Oh, hi Cas, sorry, I just wanted a beer and I didn’t want to bother anyone.” 

The lines of Castiel’s face seemed to soften as he took on a gentle smile, “It’s our job to take care of you, please, never feel like you are imposing. What kind of beer would you like?”

“Just some of the Tangled Branches is fine, maybe a paler version if you have it.” Kevin was exhausted and not looking forward to drinking one of the rather large, strong beers, but it was better than the alternative. 

“We have a cherry version that is a bit lighter and fruitier than the original, but nothing that could be considered ‘pale’.” Castiel’s deep voice hummed and rumbled as he made his way through the kitchen. Kevin moved away from the table where he hid the bug and casually moved close to Castiel. He knew this game well. When in danger of being caught for anything, there were specific rules that always got him through: always have confidence, don’t look rushed, and be friendly with whoever has the ability to ‘catch’ you. 

“That’s fine, thanks.”

Castiel rummaged around for a moment and pulled out a bottle slick with ice crystals and condensation, then he went to look for a bottle opener and eventually a glass. Kevin quietly followed him around the kitchen, “You know, I have to say, even though I really shouldn’t have, I’m glad I got to take a peek at your kitchen. There’s a very interesting balance of technologies in here.” Kevin commented as he gave an exaggerated look around to room: the cooking was clearly done over a fire, but they had a low-energy refrigerating unit to keep things cold and fresh for long periods of time. 

Castiel glanced up at Kevin with a polite tease of a smile before looking back to the beer as he opened it and began pouring the frothy red liquid into a seemingly hand crafted glass with an elaborate, if not messy, design engraved into it. “Yes, it must seem rather odd to outsiders, but most of our electrical decisions are decided by the council. They balance out our needs, the benefits of various technologies, and the costs. If they deem something worthwhile, they implement it in a selected community and evaluate the results of having it around for a few months before making a finalized decision of what to do on a planet-wide scale.” Castiel tipped the glass to give Kevin a perfect inch and a half of thick pink foam, “As it is now, only food providing establishments, such as the Inn and the Roadhouse actually have fridges. The hunters are provided freezing units in their lodge to freeze stores of meat as well. However, most of the community’s food stays in the greenhouse or in underground units. The underground units stay fairly cold and are sealed tight to keep animals and insects out.” He handed Kevin the beer. 

Kevin took it with a smile, “That’s very interesting, thank you Castiel.” Castiel motioned for him to try the beer and Kevin blushed a bit as he looked down at it. His body was aching for sleep, but he needed to keep it together just a little longer. He took a sip, expecting a syrupy cherry flavor like that used in cold medicines, but instead he found a light, sweet, spark of cherry infusing the thick dark beer. Even the foam was sweet. Kevin didn’t bother to hide his surprise as he sighed in appreciation. Castiel smiled at the reaction and headed to the door, holding it open for Kevin.

Kevin went back into the main room to hear Jamie’s loud voice, clearly mid-story. “So, then, out of nowhere, the door opens, an’ right there, standing head to toe, naked, in the storm, is the Laird. So, I stop playin’ an’ we all just stare at him for a minute, you know, waiting for an explanation or something, but instead, he just looks me dead in the eye and says, ‘James Robert McCrimmon you get back to playing.’ So, I start playin’ again and he just walks in like nothing is wrong. He just takes his seat and stays there with us all night, just drinking and eating, no one says a thing.” 

“No way! That is amazing, I don’t even think Bobby could pull that off,” Dean said laughing, “Did you ever find out what happened to his clothes?”

“No idea, it cannae have been the redcoats, they would have done more than just take his clothes.”

“Unless of course they meant to embarrass him in order to undermine his command.” The Doctor said thinking out loud before clearing his throat and reaching for another sip of what looked to be water. 

“Hm, I ne’er thought of that.” Jamie said thinking about it for a moment before shrugging it off, “Either way, I ne’er saw so many ladies faint in one evening.” Dean and Jamie laughed together while Polly just shook her head. 

Polly was the first to notice Kevin rejoin them and patted the spot next to her. Kevin took it gratefully.

“You look pretty worn out, you sure that’s a good idea.” Polly asked nodding to the beer and Kevin looked at her desperately, “Not really.” 

“Here, I’ll split it with you.” Polly offered holding out her empty glass. 

“You sure?”

“I’m fine, trust me, I know my limits,” she teased with a playful wink.

“Thanks Polly.” Kevin carefully tipped her glass to his and began to slowly split the beer between them, but despite his efforts the beer dribbled out from between their glasses as he went, soaking into the wooden table. In his exhaustion he didn’t notice the mess and corrected her glass before handing it back to her. Without a second thought, Polly wiped the stay beads of beer from the side with her finger and held her glass out. 

Kevin looked at it for a moment and tried to remember anyone else who would have split a drink with him or any other situation where someone besides his mother was genuinely looking out for him and welcoming him in like this, but he honestly couldn’t recall a single person. Kevin felt a warmth in his chest as he lifted his glass to hers, the chime it gave off rang with the familiar sound of thousands of business deals, but in this moment it took on a new meaning. Even if after this trip, he never saw these people again, he wanted to count them as friends. With that thought he took down half of the remaining beer. 

He listened to Dean tell a story next, though in his exhaustion all he could pick up was that a young Sam broke his arm because he thought he could fly and jumped off something. At the mention of the taller brother, he realized he still needed to return Sam’s armor, but as he looked around he couldn’t find him. 

“Did Sam leave?” Kevin asked looking around the table. 

“Yeah he went to bed already, why?” Dean asked and Kevin shook his head, “I forgot to give him back his armor.” 

“Ah, well you can give it to him tomorrow, it’s not like he’s gonna need it anytime soon.” Dean offered with a shrug and Kevin let the thought go. When he finally managed to finish his beer, he gave a quiet goodnight to everyone, went back to his room and fell asleep the minute his head relaxed into his pillow. 

The next day, no one woke Kevin up, so he ended up sleeping in and waking up with a sore neck. He sat up on the bed and rubbed his neck and shoulders with his thumbs and forefingers for a minute, letting his eyes linger to the window. Only then did it hit him, it was raining. He listened to the large drops of rain as they pattered against the window in a rough, broken melody. He pushed himself close to the window where he could see the rain in the reflection of the lanterns and the thin fog that had pervaded the community. The fog lay like snow along the ground, swirling around the trees and thinning as it went higher, barely obscuring the lanterns. 

Kevin sat still, watching the rain for a while. Something about rain always made him want to hide away, cover himself in blankets, and drink the best coffee his house had in its large stash. In that brief moment, Kevin found himself missing his apartment and all of its comforts, but it was just a fleeting feeling as he continued to watch the rain. 

Eventually, Kevin wandered downstairs to find the lobby packed with people frantically working on various projects. Tourists were mixed in with the locals, all chatting and working in a blur of color and sound. Kevin scanned the crowd and found Ben, Polly, Jamie, and The Doctor in one small corner. He made his way over to them, “Morning, did I miss something?”

“No, apparently it’s scheduled to rain for the next two days and then 2 days after that, Dean and Castiel are going to get married, so everyone is chipping in to help them get everything ready.” Polly explained and handed him a small stash of ribbons. 

“And what am I supposed to do with these?” 

“You have to braid them like this, they are decorations to put on the family trees.” Polly held out one of the finished ribbon decorations, it looked like some kind of flower made of green and blue ribbons. 

Kevin tried to follow what Polly was doing, but it took a few tries to actually make anything that didn’t look like something a particularly unartistic child would make. Still, at least he was doing better than Jamie. 

“No Jamie, not like that. Here, you have to hold this part while you twist this part here.” The Doctor pinched part of the decoration in Jamie’s hands, “Here, go ahead now.” 

Jamie blushed leaning towards The Doctor, “Like this?”

“Yes, that’s much better, think you can do it on your own now?” 

“My fingers dinnae work like that. I cannae hold it and tie it at the same time. Isn’t there something else I can do? Maybe I could help Dean cook?”

“Now Jamie, Dean is very busy in there, I don’t think-“The Doctor began, but Ben cut him off, “Come on Jamie, it’s not that hard, mate, just use your teeth.” 

Polly glared at him, “Do not listen to him Jamie, and Ben please tell me you aren’t really doing that.”

“No, I was just sayin’ he could is all.” Ben defended himself and Polly sighed. “Doctor?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help Jamie, my hands are getting a bit tired anyway, it might be best if we worked together, don’t you think?” The Doctor asked Jamie, with his usual, oddly charming, lopsided smile. Jamie nodded and scooted closer to the Doctor, until their shoulders were flush together and then he proceeded to smooth the ribbons on his ‘kilt’. 

“I still dinnae understand why they need all these decorations, the trees already have decorations.”

“Natural ones, yes, but these decorations show that the community supports the marriage as well. I think it’s sweet.” Polly said gently as she folded another flower for her large pile of seeming perfection. 

“The community should be doing this then.” Ben complained. “They are.” Polly replied shortly. Ben looked up like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself and looked back down at the flower of ribbons in his hands.

Kevin tried to fold another on his own and looked around the room. Castiel was talking with Anna as they hand stitched some clothing, John Winchester was continuing the hand carving designs on the alter, and Sam looked like he was doing some kind of calculations with how infrequent his writing was and how his face scrunched up in thought every time he stopped writing. Kevin smiled watching him for a minute and then looked back at the flowers. 

“So, Ben, how did it go last night?” Kevin asked quietly and Ben gave an exhausted sigh, “I honestly don’t know what that bird wants with me, things were going so good and then she blew me off again. It’s gotta be some kinda game with her. Either way I’m done with it.” 

Polly looked up at that for a moment and then quickly went back to her ribbons. Kevin saw a flash of something in that brief moment, but he wasn’t sure if it was worry or a relief, maybe it was a bit of both. Kevin looked back to Ben sympathetically, “Well, that’s too bad.” Ben shrugged a bit and looked over towards Anna. 

“Och, Doctor, now what’ve you done?” Kevin looked over to see Jamie’s finger caught in the decoration while the Doctor fiddled with the ribbons trying to free him, “Now, don’t fuss Jamie, we just have to take this part out and-“

“Och!” Jamie winced again. When his finger finally came free he instantly put it to his mouth for relief, mumbling irritably while The Doctor apologized and pat his knee. Jamie rolled his eyes, but the blush on his cheeks only deepened. 

The morning moved slowly like that, with them stuffed in that little corner, piling up ribbon flowers. Throughout the day, people trickled in and out to get food or to take their turn at the shower and eventually, some people went home or out for walks under large umbrellas. In the late afternoon, when only a few people were left, Kevin finally got his chance to return Sam’s armor and gear. 

Kevin called Sam to his room and Sam collected the pieces, checking them as he went. “So, how was the hunt? Did you get some good shots for your article?”

“No, it was darker than I prepared for, unfortunately. As for how it was, well, I think I understand why you don’t like to go.” 

Sam gave a sad smile, “Yeah, it can be a bit, much. It has to be done, but…” They both let the conversation trail off and shared a comfortable silence of shared understanding. Sam put the last piece of his gear into the cloth bag and Kevin began to grow eager for something to say. 

“So, are you excited for the wedding?” Kevin asked, trying to brighten the conversation, but even that didn’t seem to return the smile to Sam’s face. 

“Yes and no? I mean I’m really happy for them and it’ll be nice to have things back to normal, but at the same time, a lot of things are going to change. It kind of, makes me think I need to get my life together too. It’s a lot of pressure.” 

Kevin nodded, wondering a bit what it would be like to have a sibling to live up to or to guide through life. Sam sighed and tied the cloth bag shut, “Well, I better get back to it. Still got a lot to do.” 

“Right, I understand. Maybe we can talk more, later.” 

“I’d like that.” Sam smiled, but it was tired and forced, not the usual smile Kevin was used to receiving from Sam. Helplessly, he watched Sam leave with the pack heaved over his shoulder and wished he could do something or say something to comfort Sam or at least make him smile. 

Listening to the rain, his hand went to his pocket where the remaining bugs were waiting. The Inn was practically empty now and everyone there was busy and focused. This was the perfect time to finish his work. All he really needed now was to get a bug into Mary’s room. Mary and John’s room was at the end of the hallway between Sam and Dean’s rooms. 

Kevin listened carefully for movement as he moved slowly down the hallway, his cell phone in his hands to give the look of someone lost in what they were doing, just in case. When he got to the door of the room, he checked to make sure no one was near, slipped his headphones in, turned on his sound enhancing app and pressed the phone against the door. 

Nothing. Dead silence.

Kevin took a slow breath and tried to the doorknob, it was unlocked, just as he expected. Why would a place like this worry about theft or the invasion of privacy, after all? This was all too easy. Kevin eased the door open, carefully and slipped his slender body inside, shutting it behind him.

The bedroom was simple, but cluttered with wedding preparations. He had been hoping Mary might have another work desk in the bedroom, but all he found was a bed, a book shelf, a simple vanity, and a closet full of clothes and supplies for the Inn. Even on the small bedside tables, Kevin only found candles and a set of glasses, which he thought he’d seen John wear at one point. He placed the bug under the bed and made his way back to the door. When he neared it he heard voices and instantly pressed himself against the wall. 

“I don’t want to go over this again, Dean.” It was obviously Sam and he sounded upset. 

“Well, I do. We’ll still need you, you know that. I don’t get what you are making such a big scene about.”

“No, you want me to be here, that isn’t the same as needing me here, Dean.”

“Hey, need, want, doesn’t matter. This is the family business, Sam, and I don’t wanna do this without you. We can work something out, maybe Cas can...”

“Cas can what? Go be a hunter again?”

“No.” Dean heaved a heavy sigh, “Just, something. There is enough work to spread out between us, especially when dad retires.”

“Dean, working with Bobby isn’t going to be that bad. I don’t mind woodwork.” 

“Oh please, Sammy. You aren’t the one who likes to work with their hands, that’s me. Hell, I should be the one woodworking and you should be running the Inn. I can barely handle all the management stuff or the hospitality crap, really the only thing I’m good for in here is cooking. That’s it. We both know it.”

“Dean, it doesn’t matter, these arguments are pointless. It is what it is. Cas can handle all of the management and hospitality stuff, so you can keep cooking and I’m going to have to find my own way.” 

“Sammy…”

“Its fine, Dean, just, let it be.” Kevin heard a door open and close and then he heard Dean cursing under his breath. It took a moment, but eventually he heard Dean go back downstairs. Kevin turned his app back on and listened. The hallway had gone silent, but there was a quite noise coming from Sam’s room. Kevin moved his phone to the wall that was shared with Sam’s room and could hear quiet sniffling, the kind that usually went along with silent tears. Kevin lowered his phone, heavy with guilt and longing; suddenly everything felt wrong. He wanted to go in and hold Sam, take him far away so he could enjoy all of the adventures he’d only heard about, give him his own place in the universe where he could live the way he wanted. He wanted to destroy the bugs and trust that things were fine. He wanted to tell Sam what he heard Mary and John talk about and let Sam comfort him with explanations. But life was never that easy and Kevin knew he couldn’t do any of that.

In the end, he just went back to his room and laid on his bed with his arms resting over his face. 

After a long, dreamless nap, Kevin woke up still uncomfortably uncertain about everything. He blamed the rain. Still, he felt the need to do something with himself, so he listened to what the bugs had recorded. Mary’s office was again, mostly unusable and uninteresting discussions. The only thing that could be a lead was that ‘Naomi’ was reported to be ‘making her rounds’ at the various communities. Kevin made a note of it and went to his other bugs. The lobby had some interesting, although again, not useful information. 

“So, how did ye know ye loved him?” Jamie asked someone in a quiet voice, apparently close to the bug. 

“Well, it’s kinda hard to pinpoint, I mean, Cas and I have been friends since we were really little. He’s always had my back and he’s pretty much the only one I could ever really talk to.” Dean responded, equally quietly, his voice nearly hidden by the crackling fire and the shaky sound of sanding. Kevin assumed the boys were working on the alter. 

“What about your brother?”

“It’s different. He’s my kid brother, so I’ve always had to protect him and be strong for him, you know? With Cas, I could just be me, and eventually, I just realized how much I needed him. Like, when he’s not around I’m a total wreck, it’s actually pretty pathetic.”

“Eh? Like how?”

“Like, I remember when we were younger, when he first started going on hunts, I would miss him like crazy. I mean I should have been worried, probably, but I knew Cas could take care of himself. Hunters may die on hunts, but I knew nothing could get Cas. So, I just, missed him. He was always the one I went to when things got bad, like when Dad and Sammy would fight or when mom was on a long trip, or when things just felt out of control, Cas was my home. I think to me, love is about family and home, it’s about who you want to spend your days adventuring with and who you want to build your home together with at night.”

Jamie gave a thoughtful hum and Dean picked up again, “So, my turn. Why all these love questions? Got your eye on someone?”

“I uh, I dinnae know. There is someone I worry about a lot. Someone who is amazing and good, someone I trust my life with. An’ honestly, I can see myself adventuring and staying with them forever, if it keeps on like this. This person teaches me and makes me wanna be a better man than I am, and he believes in me, like no one ever has.”

“He?” Dean echoed back and Jamie went silent. There was a sigh, though Kevin wasn’t sure who it was from. “Well, ever thought about telling him how you feel?” Dean asked and Jamie remained silent for a moment before giving a quiet, “I cannae.” 

“Why?”

“Because it’s all so confusing. I’m no- sure about so many things. Like if it’s ok to be together, or if he cares about me like that, or if he’s even human. There are so many things I dinnae know about him. I dinnae even know his real name.” 

“Well, that would make things a little awkward.”

“Aye.”

“Well, maybe take it one step at a time? Show him you’re interesting, try and get closer to him and see where things go from there.”

“What if I mess everything up?”

“Oh trust me, as someone who messes things up a lot, an apology goes a long way with people who care about you. Come on, let’s get this thing out of the way, people are going to wanna get dry by the fire when they start coming back in.” 

“Huh? Oh, aye.” 

Kevin couldn’t help but feel grateful that Dean, who clearly didn’t care that much about getting to know the guests of his Inn, hadn’t realized that Jamie was supposed to be married. He skipped forward through the silence for a while and listened to a few more less interesting conversations. As he went, the only other interesting conversation he heard was involving Ben. 

“Hey Ben, want to go out for a walk in the rain?” It was Anna. 

“So you can ditch me like the last two nights? No thanks, beautiful.”

“Ben, I’m sorry, those phone calls were both about work, I have my place in the community and my duties; I can’t just ignore those.”

“And what kind of tour were you giving that late at night, eh?”

“That isn’t the only thing I do, you know.”

“Oh?”

“Forget it, if you aren’t interested, that’s fine.”

Kevin heard the door open, the sound of rain flooding in, and then as the door closed with a slam, the quiet of the crackling fire returned. Kevin listened for a few more minutes, but heard nothing else. 

Kevin made his notes and went downstairs. Jamie was asleep on the couch in front of the fire with a thin blanket over him and Sam was at the counter. Kevin wandered over, “Hey, do you guys have coffee here?” 

“Yeah, it’s all import though. I would recommend the tea.” Kevin looked at Sam suspiciously and Sam cracked a smile, “My brother gives me that look when I talk about tea, too. But you should really try it, we have a lot of interesting teas.” 

“Alright, I guess I can try one.” Kevin followed Sam into the dining room. 

“Wait here.” 

“Hmhm.” Kevin settled into a spot by the window and looked out into the darkness of the forest. The rain had made everything shine in the lantern light and the fog had mostly lifted, leaving the place hazy, but clear. After a few moments, Sam returned with two cups of steaming hot tea and placed them in front of Kevin. 

“So, I have a strong one made from roots and another made from…well it’s better if you try it first.” Kevin looked at the cups suspiciously and lifted the one Sam said was root tea first. Kevin didn’t usually care for tea, not that it tasted bad, just that it didn’t offer the ‘kick in the face’ that coffee did. It wasn’t as warming or flavorful either, generally. 

He breathed in the scent, it was close to chai, but wilder and less spicy. It was like roasted almonds with the campfire thrown in. He could almost smell a hint of apricot amongst the musky, woodsy scent, too. He blew on it a bit and took a sip, burning his tongue a bit as he did so. Sam watched eagerly as Kevin tried another sip to get the flavor. Unlike the scent, it tasted almost like a soggy ginger. He cringed a bit and shook his head, putting it down. This was the problem with tea, they could smell so good and then taste so boring. Not that he was going to tell Sam that. 

“Ok, next one.” Sam offered the other, mystery cup and Kevin eyed it, “How afraid should I be right now?”

“Not very. Just a little bit. Maybe.” Sam teased and took the seat across from Kevin, resting his chin on his hands as he watched Kevin sniff the next cup. This one smelled like the forest itself, where a thousand unfamiliar nature scents all melted together in one glorious symphony of freshness that tossed Kevin off his feet every time he took in a breath of it. He blew on it a few times and then took a sip. Like most teas, it was light, but the taste was there. It was like chewing on some sort of sweet, fresh, herbs, until you reached the juice inside. These plants weren’t the kind you would find in a salad, they were something rarer, more special. These were the kind of plants that Kevin had heard the names of, but had absolutely no idea what they really were, things like juniper, lemongrass, thyme, or marjoram. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t what Kevin wanted on a rainy day, but it was drinkable. 

“This one is ok, I guess. So, what’s in it?”

“Moss and a variety of native ferns.” Sam said taking the root tea mug and bringing it to his lips. Kevin stared at him with wide eyes, “Moss? Ferns? Is that even sanitary?”

“Everything in there is known to have healing properties, so it’s actually better than sanitary.” Kevin looked down at the tea as if it had betrayed him. 

“You aren’t going to get some kind of disease, just drink it.” Sam encouraged and Kevin sighed, taking another sip, trying to put the image of moss out of his mind. “I guess at least it isn’t algae.” 

“That’s the way to be positive.” Sam said with a smile and sipped the root tea. Sam seemed lighter now than he had been earlier when they’d spoken and certainly better than when he had argued with Dean. Maybe he just needed some time alone to deal with everything, Kevin could understand that.

He couldn’t help but feel guilty for spying, though. Sam and his family didn’t deserve this, but this was Kevin’s job and when this trip ended and all memory of Sam was long gone, his job would remain. Still, he was spying on his friends, his hosts, and _Sam_. It was a betrayal and he knew it. But Kevin had faced this sort of situation a thousand times, to the point that rationalization wasn’t necessary. It didn’t feel great, especially when he liked the people involved, but if he got a good story, helped people, and got a raise, then in the end it was the right call right?

“So, tell me more about your adventures?” Sam asked and Kevin was pulled from his thoughts. “Hmm let me see what I can find on my phone. Ah! I wanted to show you this, here, this is the wreath nebula. My mom and I took a cruise around there last year.”

Sam pulled the phone close and looked it over with wide eyes, “That’s amazing.” 

“I love nebulas, definitely the most beautiful things in space.” Kevin said as Sam flipped through pictures. 

“Is that your mom?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Kevin smiled somewhat embarrassed as Sam looked at a self-taken picture of him and his mom, their faces smooshed together with the nebula spread out behind them in the sky. 

“She looks nice, it’s great that you guys get to travel together like this.”

“Yeah, we take some time every year to go somewhere new. Usually just little tours here or there, nothing too adventurous, but it’s always good. Well, except for her trying to hook me up with just about every person we meet.” Sam chuckled at that and continued through the pictures. 

“What’s it like? Space, I mean.”

“Uhm, it’s just, space? I mean I’ve never really floated around in it directly, I’m always on a ship of some kind, but it’s just blackness with a bunch of little lights in the distance, until you come close to something, then it’s all color and light.” 

“Did you take any pictures of Earth 2.8?” 

“Yeah, of course, here.” Kevin took his phone back and moved to a different folder. Sam looked at the pictures with a somewhat open mouthed smile, his eyes shining with wonder as he looked the pictures over. 

“You really are lucky so see all of these beautiful things.” Sam’s gaze met his for a moment before going back to the pictures. Kevin blushed a bit and couldn’t help but smile at the irony as he kept his eyes on Sam. 

Sam continued through Kevin’s pictures and Kevin explained the places he’d been and some of the more interesting anecdotes: so that is where I lost my eyebrows for a while, never trust an ood ‘spa specialist’, and oh man, they shoved 10 of us in that tiny little vessel for an 8 day trip, I eventually had to sleep in the cargo area because it got too gross in there. Oh and this is the headquarters for the shadow proclamation, you would never believe the security measures they have there, I was pretty sure if they could they would have taken my skin off to check for data chips. Ah and this is a star dying, 9 whole planets had to be evacuated in advance, but the press and a bunch of rich people got front row tickets for the whole thing. This planet is called Midnight, it is entirely made of diamond. Oh and here is one of the Edwardian yacht deep space races. I got to ride on one of the front runner’s ships and interview him about the whole process. All of the ships were dressed up like boats and covered in lights, but despite how elegant it all looks, they are a bunch of cutthroat, cheating pirates. And here, is the orient express, one of the only trains in space.” 

Kevin rambled, but every adventure and every picture seemed to make Sam’s smile brighter, so he just kept going until Dean called for him from the kitchen to help get the place ready for dinner. Sam looked over at the kitchen, “I’m coming.” Kevin put his phone away and gave a shy smile to Sam, finally realizing just how much he’d spoken. 

“Thanks Kevin, uhm, I’ll take your mug, you don’t have to finish that.” Kevin looked at his tea, which he hardly touched when he started ranting, “No, I’ll finish it.”

“You really don’t have to.”

“But I want to.”

“It’s cold now.”

Kevin looked at it, not ready to surrender, he was going to drink this damn tea that Sam made for him, out of moss and ferns, and he was going to pretend to like it, if it killed him. 

“If you really want to keep drinking it, let me warm it up?” Sam suggested and Kevin’s mouth twitched into a slight smile, “Alright.” Kevin handed it over, his fingers tangling a bit with Sam’s as Sam tried to take the mug securely. 

That night, they once again had mire beast, but this time it was buried in a curry that reminded Kevin of a little Indo-Japanese restaurant a few levels down from his apartment. 

“Come on, duchess, let’s go to the Roadhouse tonight.” Ben suggested with a grin, but Polly just shook her head, “It’s still raining like mad.”

“Aw, come on, Pol, a little rain never hurt anybody.” 

“Not true actually. The whole reason our trees are here is because they were escaping an acid rain harvest.” Sam said as he brought out beers for Ben and Jamie, tea for the doctor, and wine for Kevin and Polly. 

“Not helping, mate.” Ben said and Sam laughed, “Sorry. If you are wondering, Ellen does have the place open, even in the rain, so if you want to go you’ll be welcomed in.”

“Not tonight, really, thank you for the information though Sam.” Polly said politely and Ben sighed, “I’m getting’ cabin fever here.”

“As a sailor shouldn’t you be use to that?” Polly teased and Ben sighed in surrender. Kevin still wasn’t sure what was going on between them, but Ben looked just as confused as Kevin felt. 

“Come on duchess, you always wanna go out.” 

“Not always, I was thinking about helping Castiel with some more of the decorations after dinner.”

“Again with the ribbons? Ah, never mind you have your fun. Jamie, you in? Kevin?” 

“I’ll go with you.” Jamie said with a grin, but Kevin put his hands up, “I’m going to pass too. I’m not really excited about rain, myself.” Sam lifted a brow at that, meeting Kevin’s gaze from a table away where he was pouring wine for two of the young lovers. 

“Well, Jamie and I’ll just have to go have fun on our own, ain’t that right, mate?” 

“Aye. That place was really nice the last time. Doctor, do you wanna come with us?” 

“Oh no, I don’t think so, thank you for inviting me though, Jamie.” 

“You sure?” Jamie asked somewhat urgently. 

“Yes, I’m just fine, staying nice and dry in here. Do have fun though.”

“Alright.” Jamie’s quiet defeat didn’t seem to be noticed by anyone else at the table. They finished dinner and parted ways. Kevin went back up to his room and listened to see if his bug caught anything else. It took a while, but as the lights of the inn began to go off and people settled into their beds, he did finally hear a conversation between Mary and John in their bedroom. 

“So, we are clear for the wedding for sure, but Naomi isn’t far now. She’ll probably be here a day or two after the ceremony.” Mary said quietly, the bed moving and creaking.

“Well, at least Dean and Castiel won’t have to be here for it.” John replied. 

“Not initially. Naomi could go on for days no doubt. You’ve never heard her on one of her self-important rants.” 

“If you show her that we aren’t interested in what she has to say, I’m sure she’ll move on. She’s not an idiot or she wouldn’t be on the council, she knows you and knows you reflect this community’s opinions. You opposed her at the initial presentation, she won’t waste too much time trying to sell you on it now. She’ll go for the maybes, the swing votes, and try to get majority rule.”

“For something like this, she would need 90%.” 

“Well I doubt she can get that right?”

“I don’t know the minds of the others, some seemed swayable and some I know to be corruptible, my only hope is that those who are true stay strong in their votes, no matter what nonsense Naomi tries to stir up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost time for the wedding!


	6. Intertwining Branches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding Time!

Kevin woke up to the sound of the rain beating a familiar trill against his window. Not only was the rain holding him hostage and sucking his energy, but even after a good night’s rest he couldn’t shake the guilt he was feeling about the bugs. Sam’s quiet crying just kept trickling into his ears along with the rain. Then that bright beautiful smile would flash behind his eyelids. Kevin curled onto his side and shoved his arms around his pillow. 

He felt helpless and irritated all at the same time and the rain just seemed to make it worse. At least at home he could shut the sound proof shutters over his windows and drown it out. He wanted coffee. He wanted his computer and his desk. He wanted his houseplants. Kevin pulled the blanket over his face and weighed his options. He knew he could go downstairs and get some breakfast and a shower, but he would be sucked into the whirlwind of the Winchester Inn and wedding preparations and he wasn’t sure he could handle that right now. 

His throat felt tight with anxiety and indecision. He always hated feeling like this, it didn’t happen as often as it did when he was younger, but every now and then it would creep up on him like a stranger walking behind him at night. He gave up and pulled out his tablet and video called his mom, disgusting, unwashed hair be damned. 

“Kev, hey baby.” His mom said beaming, but her smile instantly fell when she saw him. “What’s wrong?”

Kevin shook his head, “It’s nothing mom, just need some proper coffee and this place doesn’t have any, and have you been watering my houseplants?” 

Linda Tran rolled her eyes affectionately, “Yes, dear.”

Kevin felt a tiny bit of the nonsensical anxiety roll off his shoulders and Linda gave him a knowing smile, “Kev, what’s wrong? Is it that boy? Do I need to have a talk with his mother?”

“There is no boy, mom.” 

“Uh huh.” Linda teased, unconvinced. 

“Well, ok there is, but it’s not about him. Not, completely.” Linda lifted a brow and waited silently until her son broke, “Ok, ok, enough with the look. We both know I’m only here for a stupid cultural piece right? But there might be a real story here, like political intrigue people in danger kind of stuff. So, I planted some bugs and now I feel like I’m invading his privacy and betraying him and I really like him, but if this story pans out, I could get that raise I’ve been waiting for forever AND I might help people.”

Linda listened intently and took a slow breath before she met his gaze, “Kevin, you do what you have to do, like you always have. If you think there is something going on, not only is it your job to look into it, but it’s the right thing to do. That boy, if he’s a good person with any kind of head on his shoulders, will understand that this wasn’t about him. It’s not like you are using those bugs to try and seduce him, right?”

“What? No!”

“See, there you go. You are doing your job and you are doing what you think is right. Have some faith in yourself, you are a good man. I wish you could be even half as proud of yourself as I am.”

Kevin blushed and cracked a small smile, “Thanks mom.” 

 

“And just so you know, I expect pictures of this boy.” 

“Mom! We aren’t even a thing, nothing is going to happen.” 

“I still want pictures.”

Kevin hung his head, “Yes mother.” 

“You hold that head up, baby. I didn’t raise you to mope. Now get out of that bed and go enjoy yourself, you only have a couple more weeks there.”

“Yeah, you’re right. As usual.” 

“Talk to you later, baby.”

“Yeah, thanks mom.” Kevin shut off the video call and heaved himself out of bed. He tilted his head in either direction listening to the light cracks of his neck and went to his bag to fish out some clothes. He felt lighter; his anxiety was waning. His throat was still a bit tight, but he knew it would fade with time. For now, what he needed was a shower. 

He waited in line behind two of the grown children who were talking about the ‘cute blonde bar tender’ at the Roadhouse. Kevin listened for a while until he grew bored and then looked around for a distraction. He could hear the chaos from downstairs, there were people running around and chatting as they worked to prepare the wedding. He may have been feeling better about things, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for that. 

He took his time in the shower, probably a bit more than was really polite, and then returned to his room. He hesitated, but eventually he checked the bugs for info. Nothing yet, but it was still early afternoon. He pulled out his tablet and began to write everything he had learned so far about life on Earth 2.8, going through his pictures for references. He smiled at the pictures of his new friends and moved them into a separate folder on his personal drive. 

It was late afternoon before there was a knock on his door. Kevin looked up from his tablet, “Come in?”

Kevin watched the door open slowly expecting Ben, but instead he was greeted with Sam and his perfect, easy smile. Kevin instantly blushed and sat taller, quickly moving his equipment around on his bed, trying to look more organized, but Sam didn’t seem to really notice, “Sorry to bother you, but you’ve been shut up in here all day, so I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go for a walk with me and get some fresh air. I have to go pick up some supplies from the greenhouse.” 

“In the rain?” Kevin responded without pausing to think and Sam just laughed, “Yes in the rain, but we have umbrellas and rain boots, the rain won’t hurt you, I promise.”

“I dunno about that.” Kevin replied half serious and Sam moved a bit closer until he was standing at the edge of Kevin’s bed, “Well think of how nice it is when you come in from the rain, then. We could sit by the fire to get warm and dry, maybe have a cup of hot chocolate?” Kevin’s head filled with images of them cuddled together in front of the fire with their rainwater soaked socks pointed at the fire, playfully bumping into one another. Maybe Sam would rest his head on Kevin’s lap and Kevin could pet that beautiful hair as he watched Sam drift off to get some well-deserved rest. Or maybe Sam would lean up before he fell asleep, for a warm, chocolate flavored kiss. Kevin blushed deeply and looked up at Sam who was still staring down at him, practically beaming with his innocent, gentle smile. 

“Alright, I guess. But that hot chocolate better be amazing.” 

In a few minutes, they were both prepared with rain boots, hooded rainproof jackets, and umbrellas. As they carefully made their way through the busy lobby Polly winked at Kevin and gave him a thumbs up. Dean looked up from his place where he was carving with his father and Jamie, “Hey, Sam don’t forget the lingon berries.” 

“I know, Dean. I’ve got the list in my pocket, don’t worry.”

“Thanks, Sammy.”

Sam rolled his eyes and opened the door for Kevin. Kevin stepped out and opened his umbrella as quickly as he could. The rain, being artificial, was consistent and unyielding. He looked up through his clear umbrella to see it dripping its way through the trees down to the earth. Everything was glistening and draining with collected water streaming downwards, yet still singing with each new drop that splattered down. The green of the forest seemed even more vibrant and the ice ornaments were temporarily gone. 

“It’s not bad right?” Sam asked from under his umbrella that was unknowingly dropping its rain onto Kevin’s umbrella. 

Kevin gave a false pout, “I guess not, still think water is getting in my boots, though.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll only be out for a minute. Come on.” Kevin followed Sam away from the Inn and down the muddy path, his eyes going from the ground, to avoid roots and puddles, to steal glances at Sam. Kevin smiled as they walked side by side in a comfortable silence, their umbrellas colliding now and then. 

After about 5 minutes, they approached the greenhouse. With its glass walls and bright sun lamps, it stood like a bright, proud beacon in the dark, cold, damp forest. Nothing felt quite as familiar for Kevin as the greenhouse did, it felt sterile and advanced like much of New Earth. They walked in, closing their umbrellas and leaving them at the door, leaning together. 

“Hey Sam, I was wondering when you were gonna finally come over. Oh and you brought the reporter! Hi, Kevin.” The blindingly red-headed young gardener said, over bounding with energy as usual. Maybe she herself was part of the reason this place felt like a beacon; everyone in this place felt comfortable and easy, but she was like a burst of sunlight in the darkness. Kevin gave her an awkward wave from behind Sam as the giant went to greet her with a hug, “Hey Charlie, yeah I’m here to get the order my dad placed.”

“Right, for the wedding offering. You are definitely one lucky guy my friend, like seriously, some of those berries were worrying me this year, but they managed to pull off enough fruit to meet the request. Guess they want Dean and Cas married as bad as the rest of us.” Charlie said, laughing a bit to herself as she led them to the back of the greenhouse where a basket full of clean, fresh fruit was ready for them. The clearly hand woven basket was prepared with a thin pink plastic wrap to keep the fruit in place and covered with celebratory ribbons. 

“Wow, Charlie, this looks…” Sam started as he took the basket, but Charlie cut him off, “I overdid it, I know. But I couldn’t help myself. You and Dean have always been like big brothers to me and Cas is just awesome. In my excitement, I may have added some extra stuff in there too, you know, for fun. Figured your guests might like something a little different. Especially since John, Mr. I only need salt and pepper to season everything, is going to be cooking for a few days.” Charlie gave an exaggerated face of worry and Sam bumped her with his elbow. 

“Don’t let dad hear you say that. Anyway, thanks Charlie. You are going to be at the decorating ceremony tomorrow right?”

“You bet I am. I already have a mountain of decorations prepared. I have been at this for days, I’m not even kidding.”

“I think I know what you mean, we’ve been doing the same. If I have to tie one more of those little gift bags, I may go a little crazy.” They laughed and shared another hug before Sam led Kevin back outside with a friendly pat on the back that Kevin may or may not have slightly melted against. 

Kevin couldn’t help but be a bit jealous of the closeness Charlie and Sam shared. Not only did Sam have his brother, but he had so many other people he grew up with. The whole community really was just a big family. 

“So, ready to get inside and get dry?” Sam asked with a smile as they both opened their umbrellas.

“You did promise me hot chocolate.” Kevin reminded him eagerly, his mind still full of unrealistic pictures of cuddles and kisses.

“I did and don’t worry, I’ll deliver. But just to warn you, I’m pretty good at hot chocolate, you may never want to leave after you’ve had it.”

Kevin laughed, “Oh really?”

“Yup. I don’t do a lot of sweets, that’s really more of my brother’s thing, but hot chocolate is definitely one of my weak points. I love curling up with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate by the fire. That’s basically my perfect day, well until I get interrupted, which is all the time.” 

“Must be pretty busy, living in an Inn.” 

“Yeah, we have a new batch of tourists every month. I hardly get time to relax, not that there are that many books to read even if I did.”

“Oh, are they all imported?”

“Mostly, yes. But books are considered a luxury item, so we really don’t get that many. Mostly it’s all history or language books. We do have some fiction books that have been made here and passed down from our ancestors, but they are usually handmade 1-copy only kind of books, so we have to be very careful with them. I could show you one when we get back to the Inn if you want.” 

“That’d be great, thank you.”

“Do you read a lot?”

“Yeah, I uhm, didn’t really fit in with the other kids at school growing up, so I spent a lot of my time reading. I don’t have much time for it with work, but I still like it.” Kevin said quietly, almost hoping Sam wouldn’t hear him, but Sam gave a gentle, empathetic smile and graciously changed the subject, “I bet at home you have access to just about any book that was ever written.”

“Yeah, I mean, I can find pretty much anything on my computer, but I really like to actually hold the books in my hands. It’s a smell and tactile thing. I actually went to this one planet, they call it The Library, the whole planet is a giant library where you can just roam around and basically read forever.” 

Sam’s eyes lit up, “That’s amazing. An entire planet covered in books? I can’t even begin to imagine, it must be incredible. Have you ever thought about writing a book?”

“Not until I’m retired or famous.” Kevin teased, but Sam must have taken it seriously by the way he nodded and gave a quiet ‘Oh’. 

“To be honest, I’ve been working on a book of my own.” Sam said and Kevin perked up. 

“Really?”

“Sort of, it’s just a collection of stories our guests tell me. I started it like a journal, but I thought, maybe someday I’d actually bind it and keep it in the Inn for other people to read. Sort of, pass on the knowledge right?” 

“That’s a really nice idea, Sam.” 

“Does that mean I can use your stories?” Sam asked almost shyly as he stopped in front of the Inn door and Kevin blushed, “Yeah, of course you can.” Sam smiled in a quiet, almost secretive way before opening the door and placing his umbrella in a small canister. Kevin followed in suit and took off his rain boots. Some water had gotten in, but it wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. Still, Sam motioned for him to wait by the fire and went off to the kitchen. 

The minute Kevin sat down, Polly took her place beside him. “So, how was your walk?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean your walk with the adorable giant.” Polly asked, taking his arm in hers with excitement. Ben snickered from his place on the floor where he and the doctor were making new ribbon decorations, this time long streamer styled decorations that were braided at the top. 

Kevin looked around, there were still a few guests here and there, but Dean, John, and Jamie had gone off somewhere, taking the alter with them. Knowing that at least Sam’s family wasn’t right there, he sighed and gave in to the line of questioning, “It was nice. We went to the greenhouse.” 

“Annnd? Did you make a move?”

“Polly!” Kevin returned, somewhat scandalized. 

“What? You like him right? You should go for it. Come on, everyone has wedding fever, by the time the wedding happens he’ll be in such a romantic mood, if you don’t go for it, someone else will.” 

Kevin looked at her a bit unsure, but just then Sam returned and Polly slipped back to her place on the floor with Ben and the Doctor. 

“Here, hot chocolate and I’ll go grab that book I was going to show you.” Kevin took the mug from Sam’s hands carefully, he could smell the dark chocolate and mint from underneath the pile of whipped cream. There was a soft powdered layer of sugar and cinnamon on top, and somewhere hidden in there was the scent of alcohol: though he couldn’t tell what kind, it smelled reasonably strong. He took a sip and felt it warm his entire chest. Sam returned and sat beside Kevin on the couch. Kevin looked at the book in Sam’s lap in awe, it was leather bound and hand stitched. Sam opened the cover to reveal a small painted picture of a man in leathers, wielding an electric harpoon, fighting what looked like a giant mire beast. 

“That is the mire colossus. They say, a long time ago, when this place was still called Aridius, a Dalek attack disturbed the mire beasts, including their leader, the mire colossus. The legend goes that the mire beasts fought the Daleks, and it was only when they were defeated and the colossus destroyed, that the Daleks were able to kill the Aridians.”

“So the mire beasts once protected the people of this planet?”

“The native people, supposedly, yes. They’ve never been anything but hostile to us though. Then again, maybe that is because the last invaders did so much damage. Anyway, we’ve always carried on this tradition of the idea that the mire colossus might still be out there somewhere. Every hunter dreams of being the one to find it and kill it. This is just another story someone wrote about a brave hunter going out and fighting it.” 

Kevin turned the page, it felt ancient and delicate. The words on each page had clearly been re-inked at some point, as the lines of their beautiful swirls didn’t quite match up to the faded shadows behind them. This was a true piece of their heritage, still intact. “May I take a picture of this?” Kevin asked and Sam smiled nodding, “Yeah, just try not to use flash.”

Kevin tried to take a few pictures, but they were all dark. “Could you hold it up, so the fire’s light can brighten the picture?” 

“Oh, sure.” Sam held the book up gently and Kevin moved off of the couch. His camera focused first on the book, but then he saw his opportunity and moved the zoom back, just a bit, and managed to get Sam in there as well. 

“Thanks.” Kevin said shyly shutting off his camera before Sam could ask about the picture. 

“No problem.” Sam moved a bit so Kevin could sit back down; sitting this close together made Kevin sink a bit towards Sam due to their weight difference and Kevin could feel their thighs touching, just barely. He watched as Sam put the book to the side and picked up his hot chocolate. Despite still having slightly damp feet and clothes, the warmth of Sam’s body so close to his made everything seem in place and perfect, he was almost afraid to move in fear of losing the contact. 

“It feels good right?” Sam asked sparing a quick glance at Kevin, and Kevin blushed warmly, his eyes unable to leave Sam’s profile, “Uh, yeah.” This beautiful, smart, kind man deserved whatever the hell he wanted. He deserved all the happiness and freedom the universe had to offer. Definitely all the love too, even if he probably didn’t want that from Kevin. Then it hit him, he could do at least one good thing for Sam. If nothing else, he could do this one small thing. “Wait here.” 

Kevin ran upstairs, nearly tripping on the stairs, rummaged through his room, found what he was looking for, and came back down, slightly out of breath. “Here.”

Sam looked at him confused before taking the simple hardback book from Kevin’s hands. “What is this?”

“It’s just a cheap murder mystery novel from New Earth, but it’s the top seller this month. I picked it up for the trip over and I’m already finished, so I thought, maybe you’d want it?” 

“Really? Are you sure?” Sam asked with the most hopeful yet sad puppy dog eyes Kevin had ever seen. 

“Yeah, this place could use some more fiction books, after all.” Sam looked at him for a minute, clearly trying to figure out what to say, but in the end he just gave a quiet, “Thanks, Kevin.” 

Kevin was pretty sure he was going to combust at this point so he looked away towards the fire, letting its light burn his retinas as pink as his cheeks felt. “No problem.” 

The rest of the day passed quietly. Eventually, John, Dean, and Jamie returned from Bobby’s where they had apparently borrowed some things to finish the alter. Once Sam told them of the fruit, John and Dean retreated to the kitchen and Jamie rejoined his friends. Sam tended to other guests, helped with decorations, and every chance he got, seemed to sneak away with his new book. Kevin broke a smile every time he saw Sam carrying the book; Sam seemed to hold it with reverence which was all the sadder, because really the book was only subpar. Still, Kevin was glad to see Sam happy. From his spot by the fire, Kevin finished catching up on his work and then joined The Doctor’s group to work on making streamers. 

The next morning, Kevin was woken up at the same time as Ben by a knock on the door. “Ben? Kevin? We need to get going soon, it’s almost time for the decorating ceremony! The entire community is here!” Polly called and Kevin looked over at Ben who looked equally disinterested in getting out of bed. “Boys?!” Polly said louder, knocking again and Ben sighed, “Alright, alright, duchess, give us a minute, will ya?”

Ben and Kevin both got out of bed and threw on some new clothes. They wouldn’t even have time for showers until later now, which Kevin considered unfair because Ben looked perfectly fine rolled out of bed, but Kevin knew his hair was greasy and clumped up weird. 

They went out and found Polly with her long platinum blonde hair tied up and her make up hiding any sign of sleep or having not bathed. “Come on, we need to wake the Doctor and Jamie next.” 

The hallway was crowded with people rushing back and forth with boxes, some trying to get their groups together, others lined up for the chance at a shower, urging each other to hurry, and some just walking around still half asleep and unsure of what was even happening. Polly knocked on the Doctor and Jamie’s door, “Doctor, Jamie, we need to go, the ceremony is about to start!”

“Eh? Give us 5 more minutes, it’s too early, there is no way Dean is already awake.” Jamie complained loudly. 

“Come now, Jamie, they will need all the help they can get.” Jamie groaned in protest. “Jamie, you need to let go now, there’s a good lad.” This was followed by more grumbling and then hurried footsteps. The three waited for a while, giving each other a knowing glance every time something sounded like it fell over, and eventually The Doctor came to the door. He was dressed and ready to go, though disheveled as always, while Jamie was still in their bed, stretched out now like a starfish. Kevin grinned thinking about how much of a difference Dean was apparently making and couldn’t help but wonder about how the Doctor felt about the change. Something made Kevin assume the Doctor didn’t mind either way. 

“Come on Jamie, we need to go.” Polly called. “That’s right mate, we got up, you can get up too, let’s go, on the double.” Ben teased and Jamie, with a loud groan pulled himself from the bed. “I’ll get him ready, Pol, you and the others head on downstairs.” Ben suggested and Polly nodded, “Alright. Thanks, Ben.” 

The three headed downstairs where dozens of crates filled with decorations were piled up. John was directing people from the counter, “Novak decorations over there and Campbell ones over there. This isn’t difficult.”

Kevin noticed Cas was completely surrounded by Chuck, Anna, Samandriel, Michael, and a variety of other people Kevin hadn’t met yet, but assumed were Cas’s family. Meanwhile, Sam was walking around with a clipboard, checking things off, while Dean was talking to Jo and Charlie. 

It took at least 15 minutes before things got organized, but eventually John had people carrying boxes to the two trees. That gave Ben and Jamie more than enough time to join the others downstairs. Sam had eventually found Kevin and told him that if he wanted to see everything, that he should go with Cas’s family for the decorating ceremony, as he would see the Campbell tree for the wedding. Jamie, Polly, and Ben were enlisted to help the Campbells, while The Doctor decided to join Kevin to see the Novak celebration. 

As the last of the groups began to file out, Dean pulled Cas in close for a long, slow, kiss by the door, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Cas.” 

“Yes, Dean.” There was a nervousness between them which showed through how tightly they held on to one another and how deeply they seemed to search each other’s eyes. 

“It’s going to be ok. It has to be.” Dean said as if trying to reassure himself and Cas nodded before pulling Dean in for another kiss. Jamie stood watching them with Sam, nearby. Sam rolled his eyes and teased, “Anytime, you two.” Jamie didn’t blush as he watched them now, instead he had a small smile, “Aye, Dean, you can kiss him all you want tomorrow, eh?” 

Dean gave that more-than-likely-offensive finger gesture to them and kissed Cas harder, making the man moan in his low, gruff tone. 

“Castiel, it’s time to go now.” Chuck said with an understanding, but firm tone and immediately, Castiel’s hands went to Dean’s chest to push them apart. 

“Yes, father,” He said looking back at Chuck before letting his gaze fall on his fiancé again, this time soft with love, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Dean.” 

“Yeah, sleep well, angel,” Dean gave him one more quick kiss and looked back at Sam and Jamie, “Let’s go guys. That damn alter isn’t gonna move itself.” Dean went over to the alter and with Sam and Jamie’s help, lifted it up and out the door. Kevin and the Doctor made their way to Chuck. “Is there anything we can do to help?” The Doctor asked and Chuck smiled, “If you could grab another box of decorations, that’d be great.” 

And with that, the Inn emptied out. Kevin trailed the Novak party with his camera, taking as many pictures as he could get. He knew the wedding would be best way to promote Beneath the Eternal Shade; after all, what was more romantic than a wedding on Earth 2.8? 

Cas’s large family and a few close friends carried the decorations ‘down the path’ to the Novak tree. With the rain gone, the trees let their ice ornaments out again and the place was back to glittering in the lantern light. From what he understood, Castiel’s mother was a Milton, but when she died, they reverted to their father’s family tree: the Novak tree. Chuck’s sister Amara was now the head of the Novak family. Between them, there were many Novak children: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Anna, Balthazar, Samandriel, and Hannah were the ones raised by their birth parents. Outside of that, Lucifer, Tessa, Gadreel, and Ambriel had been sent to other families to be raised. Ambriel had been raised in the community by other parents, but was still close to her birth family. Despite being raised in separate communities, Tessa and Gadreel were both there for the wedding and frequently visited the community. However, Lucifer, the only family member to have no contact with his birth family, was naturally absent. 

Kevin walked alongside the large procession of family members carrying boxes taking shots where he could and eventually moved next to Samandriel, “So can you tell me what is going on here?”

“Of course! Tomorrow, as you know, Castiel will join the Campbell family, so today we will honor our family’s tree and show that we are united in our blessing of his marriage.”

“I see, thanks Samandriel.” Kevin continued to follow them as they left the path and went into the forest. They didn’t go in far before they began to pile their boxes down. In front of them, was a massive tree with countless branches that swam out wide from the trunk. The fir was decorated lightly with ice ornaments and still slightly wet from the rain. The ground around the tree was uneven with massive roots that dipped in and above the earth. After setting down their boxes, each family member greeted the tree by finding a space in between the roots and kneeling. They spoke quietly to the tree, creating a murmur of whispers.

“Doctor, do you suppose the trees really hear and understand them?” Kevin asked as he watched, feeling a bit out of place.

“These trees, yes I suppose they must. They are sentient after all.” The Doctor said clearing his throat. 

“Well, I mean, why don’t the trees talk back?”

“Hm, from what I know of the Androzani trees, in order to verbally communicate with humanoids, they have to temporarily take a host. Otherwise, they cannot speak as we do. If you think about it, it wouldn’t make much sense if they did, considering that their bodies are built quite differently from ours.”

“You have me there. It just all seems so, ancient. Earth worship isn’t really that common anymore.”

“Well, from what I’ve seen it isn’t worship, it’s respect; they have a symbiotic relationship.” 

Kevin nodded his understanding and took a few zoomed in pictures of the Novaks as they looked at the tree like an old friend, the candle light flickering over their faces. After greeting the tree, everyone worked together to decorate it. The tree gave them footing so they didn’t need ladders to climb up to the top. While most of the community was decorating the Campbell tree, the Novak family was more than enough to cover their family tree with ribbons and small gold and metal ornaments. The tree seemed to understand the ceremony and began blooming its own ornaments alongside the family’s. 

It took nearly all day, but by the time they were done, the entire tree shined brilliantly, the lanterns beamed their golden light off of the many colored ornaments and ribbons to make the tree glow with sparks of blues, reds, and yellows. When it was done, Castiel knelt before the tree and his father while the rest of the family gathered around close. Quiet blessings were spoken and ended with a kiss to Castiel’s forehead and dozens of hugs from the rest of his family. Kevin got many good shots of Castiel and his family in that moment. 

“Proud of you little brother.” Anna said as she kissed his cheek, ruffling his hair playfully. 

“I suppose Dean will do, though he’s not nearly good enough for you.” A thin, blonde brother with a goatee said before being pulled into a tight hug by Castiel. 

“I love you too, Balth.” Castiel said into the man’s neck as Michael gave Castiel a friendly pat on the back and Hannah waited for her hug alongside Samandriel. 

“Alright, alright, enough mushy stuff, Cassie needs to get his beauty rest, he’s gonna need it tomorrow. Am I right?” Another brother with golden eyes and matching hair said, with a playful grin. 

“I think one more would like to say hi before he goes, she’s kicking like crazy.” A pregnant woman with blonde hair waddled slowly over to Castiel. The minute Castiel’s eyes landed on her, they brightened with love, “Amelia, thank you for bringing Claire. How is she?”

“Feisty as ever. She must hear all the excitement, I swear she hasn’t slept in days. Sorry to get here so late, my sleeping schedule is all out of whack.” 

“It’s perfectly fine, I’m just happy you’re here at all. May I?”

“Of course.”

Castiel knelt down and carefully put a hand to Amelia’s stomach to feel his soon to be daughter kick. “Claire, be nice to your mother, you’ll be with us soon enough.” Castiel smiled wide and blinked in what looked like response to a kick. Kevin snapped a few highly zoomed shots as Castiel looked up at Amelia, “Thank you for bringing her, this means a lot to me.”

“I know, I just wish you were marrying someone with a tree a bit closer to yours, I know Dean is going to want to see her, too.”

“If you’d like, I can escort the young lady, I was planning on catching up with my friends anyway.” The Doctor offered flattening his rumpled jacket in the front. 

“That would be very helpful, thank you.” Castiel said gratefully as the Doctor offered his arm to Amelia. Amelia gave Castiel one more smile as she and the Doctor left through the thick trees. 

“I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandfather soon.” Chuck said almost teary-eyed before getting elbowed by the golden eyed son, “Yeah yeah, Cassie is so great getting married and having babies, enough with the pressure pops.” 

“Agreed.” Anna said lifting her finger and Hannah nodded firmly at her side, “Yes, stop trying to rush us, father.”

Chuck put his hands up in defense, “I’m not rushing anyone, I’m just excited. Now, if we are all good here, shall we head back for dinner? Castiel, do you feel sufficiently supported?”

“Yes, and food sounds great.” Castiel’s smile never faded as his brothers and sisters crowded him with love and teasing. 

Samandriel slipped next to Kevin, “So next, we are all going to go to Castiel’s family home at the hot spring and have a big dinner. After that, everyone will basically go to sleep really early. All other preparations are already done so now it’s just about spending one last night with his family.” Samandriel explained. 

“Oh, what happens tomorrow then? Where is everyone meeting?” Kevin asked curiously. 

“Well, after Castiel is dressed and packed, we will go to the Novak tree one more time and ask for its blessing. Then he will be bound at the wrist with ribbon, leather, and twigs from our tree, to his father. Ordinarily that would be his mother’s job, but because she’s gone, Chuck will take that role. Oddly enough the role will be filled by the father for Dean as well. Mary should be doing it, but as community leader she has other functions at the wedding, so the role will be given to John.”

“Ok…” Kevin nodded his semi-understanding and Samandriel continued, “Anyway, once bound, the family will then proceed to the Campbell tree for the ceremony. I don’t want to ruin any more of it, it’s better if you just see it yourself. But I figured if you wanted to make your escape, now would be the best time to do that.” 

“Ah, thanks for the warning, I guess I’ll do that then. Thanks again for all the commentary. Have a good rest of the night?” Kevin finished in a question, unsure of what to say at a time like this. 

“You too.” 

Kevin made his way awkwardly through the family to Castiel for a last quick greeting, “Uhm, Castiel, I’m going to head back to the Inn, thank you for letting me take pictures and be here for this. I’m looking forward to the ceremony.” 

“Thank you for coming with us. Are you going to be alright alone?”

“Yeah, I’ll find my way. Thanks though. See you tomorrow.” Kevin said with a forced bravado. He wasn’t totally convinved that he knew the way back, but they really hadn’t gone that far off the path and he didn’t want to bother the family at such an important time. 

Castiel nodded and Kevin left the large group as they finished collecting their now empty boxes. 

Kevin headed back the way he had seen the Doctor go, and tried to find familiarity in his surroundings, but all of the trees looked the same to him, more or less. As he moved further into the forest, the sound of voices dissipated and all he could hear was the infrequent rustling of what he assumed were animals. He tried to walk in what he thought was a straight line, but he had to dodge roots and left over puddles as he went and slowly started to feel turned around. Without the sky to guide him, he was left blind. He heard a stream not too far away and knew that one ran by the community, but also that it went deep into the forest and he didn’t remember which way the water ran.   
The further he went without a sign of life the more he started to worry. He tried to find aim himself towards the lanterns, remembering that they got sparser the further into the forest one went, but still there was nothing but trees all around him. Kevin felt a slow panic settle in and looked around frantically for a sign of life, a remembered landmark, or a footprint in the mud, but there was nothing. He let out a small choked sob, he was lost, he knew it, utterly and hopelessly lost. He froze, unsure of what to do, whispering to himself, “It’s ok Kevin, calm down. The community can’t be that far away. It has to be here somewhere.” 

Then he felt something slither beside his leg and he jumped with a scream. He backed up and searched the darkness for movement, and squinting, he noticed a root poking up from the ground, motioning repeatedly. Kevin looked at it carefully as it thrust in one direction. “Is that the way back?” Kevin asked quietly and the root pointed again. “Ok…hope you’re right about this.” 

Kevin walked in the direction the root pointed, trying not to remind himself that now he was listening to trees. He tried to keep going in the right direction and every now and then, when he would begin to veer off, another root would correct him. It felt like hours, but eventually Kevin found the path. The minute he saw it, he felt tears of relief in his eyes. He looked back at the forest and gave a quiet, “Thank you.” With that, Kevin ran ‘down the path’ back to the Inn, ready to be inside. 

When he got back, the Inn was packed, not only was the tour group there, but many family friends were gathered for dinner as well. John was cooking with Mary’s help, while everyone sat waiting with the tables pushed all together so everyone was able to eat together. 

“I’m so jealous, I want to get married.” Jo complained from her place beside Sam. 

“When you are older Joanna-beth and when you find someone decent enough.” Ellen scolded lightly. Sam laughed and Jo elbowed him. 

Kevin looked around until he saw his friends, they had saved him a seat beside Ben. “Hey guys.”

“Kevin, there you are, we were starting to think you weren’t coming.” Polly said with worry as Kevin moved into his spot. 

“I got a little lost, but I made it.” Kevin said simply and Polly gave him a gentle smile. 

“Well mate, have a pint, this stuff’ll warm you up, alright.” Ben poured a glass of what looked like a warm wine filled with berries, nuts, spices, and roots. 

“Thanks.” Kevin said looking down at the wine suspiciously. 

“It ain’t bad, go on.” Ben encouraged and Kevin took a sip. It really was warming and the spices actually blended together well. It reminded him of a German holiday wine, only with a sweeter flair. 

“See, better yeah?” Ben said, knocking shoulders with him.

“Yeah, actually, thanks Ben.” Polly smiled at them and took another sip of her own wine. 

“So, you sure you can’t convince him to get back into hunting, brother?” A man with a beard and soft pale blue eyes said to Dean and Dean just threw his hands up in defense, “I can’t convince Cas of anything, Benny. You’re on your own. 

“Cas is going to be great as an Inn keeper, anyway. Who wouldn’t want those dreamy eyes greeting you every morning?” Charlie teased and Dean gave her a look. 

“The tourists might try to steal him away, Dean, better be careful.” Jo added and Dean gave an exaggerated face of irritation, “You are all jerks.” 

“Don’t worry, Dean, you’ll still have me.” Sam teased and pulled his brother into a side hug, only to have Dean toss him off, “Can you not with the sap?”

“He’s been doing that all day.” Jamie pointed out to Kevin. 

“Alright, everyone we got the food ready, make sure you got places ready for plates. Sam get in here and help us serve.” John said from the kitchen doorway.

“Yes, sir.” Sam responded and headed into the kitchen. 

“I could help too, you know. That kitchen is practically mine, you know.” 

“You just sit there and relax, sweetheart, it’s your day.” Mary called from in the kitchen. 

“Pfft, fine.” Dean sighed. He was now surrounded by 3 empty seats, clearly for his family, but beyond those were Jo and Amelia. Dean turned to Amelia, well, more specifically to Claire, “Just remember Claire-bear, Daddy is a much better cook than Grandma and Grandpa, so don’t worry if the food isn’t that great. You won’t have to eat it that often.” 

Amelia smiled and put her hand to her stomach, “I think you’ve made her worried now.” Dean returned the smile. Everyone’s attention moved to the kitchen as John, Mary, and Sam came out with plates of food for everyone. They started with Dean, then friends, and tourists were served last. 

Kevin looked at his plate, grateful that there didn’t seem to be any mire beast. There was some sort of bird meat, roasted and seasoned with salt and pepper, just like Charlie had warned. It came with a nice spicy honey sauce though, so the bland seasoning was fine. Alongside that, there was a pile of boiled vegetables, buttery garlic toast, and a pile of cheesy mashed potatoes.

“This is why I started cooking.” Dean teased his father as John sat down, John just gave him a look that suggested he’d heard that a thousand times and wasn’t impressed. Mary took a seat between them and took her wine. “Shall we toast then?”

“If we have to.” Dean sighed and Sam grinned, “Definitely a toast.”

Mary lifted her wine and everyone else fell in line. “To my amazing little boy, you’ve always held our family together through anything that came our way, helping out and taking care of everyone, you are so strong and so kind. I’m so proud of you Dean and I’m so happy you found someone who can love you just as fiercely as you love them.”

“Cheers.” Sam said with a smile and everyone took a drink of their wine before applauding, making Dean blush and lower his head as he scratched his neck. “Ok, ok, can we just eat now?” 

“Yes, darling.” Mary said with a playful smile and everyone began to eat and chat. As Kevin listened and watched them, he recalled with a mix of melancholy and pride, why he became a reporter in the first place. If there was one thing he loved and believed in, it was stories. As a reporter, he could sample thousands of them, but he always felt that in some ways, his work kept him from having his own story. He wasn’t sure he’d have a very good story, even if left to his own devices, but as a reporter, he got to experience a myriad of different lives, even if he only got a small taste of each. He always found himself curious about the lives around him and wondered what all sat behind the small window he was allowed to peak through. Thinking about the depth of the lives of those around him made him consider whether it would have been better to have built his own story, spread his roots and what not, mediocre story or not. In moments like this, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. With that bittersweet feeling pervading him, he lifted his mini-tablet and took a panoramic picture of everyone at the table. 

“It’s no- half bad, is it doctor?” Jamie said, leaning against him. The Doctor gave a smile and took another bite of his bird like meat. “No, it’s quite good, actually. Simple and homey. Very nice, indeed.” 

“Aye.” Jamie said with a grin and went back to his food. 

Kevin continued eating and glanced up at Sam. Sam was talking with Dean and Jo, obviously trying to embarrass Dean by the way Dean was glaring at him. Kevin had never eaten a big ‘family’ meal like this. The biggest group he’d ever eaten with was his work colleagues. Every year they would have a party around New Years to celebrate their work, or boost morale, or something, Kevin wasn’t really sure what the point was, especially since most of them were competitors rather than friends. The company was full of cut throat people wanting to get ahead; they would steal stories from each other, sabotage one another, and fight for raises and promotions. But this was nice and comfortable. 

“Ugh I could not eat another bite. Someone is going to have to carry me upstairs as it is.” Polly teased and Ben laughed, “Don’t look at me, I’m just gonna sleep down here.” 

“Och, you two dinnae even finish your food, here give me that.” Jamie said taking Polly’s left over garlic toast. 

“Does he always eat that much?” Kevin asked Ben and Ben laughed, “Oh yeah, eats, drinks, and falls asleep generally.”

“You aren’t really one to talk Ben.” Polly pointed out and Ben gave a weak, “Hey,” but didn’t bother to say anything to really defend himself. Slowly the family friends made their way out, talking about plans for the next day while tourists began lining up for the shower they still hadn’t gotten. 

Kevin decided taking a shower that night was probably a good idea, since he wasn’t really going to get any time the next day, so he lined up as well with Polly, Ben, Jamie and The Doctor. After about 5 minutes Jamie started in with his suggestions of just going to the stream, which were basically ignored. 

The next day, Kevin prepared several cameras just in case and relied on Polly to help him carry them, she even offered to help take pictures, which he jumped at the chance at. Everyone in the group had dressed in their best, though they hadn’t exactly packed wedding appropriate attire. The Doctor’s suit was a bit less frumpy than usual, Ben and Jamie both wore dress shirts, although Jamie still wore his ‘kilt’ while Ben was in simple slacks. Polly had her hair up and was wearing a short, but beautiful light pink dress that had small clear sequins embedded into the thick frabric to make it shine in the light. 

The entire community, outside of the Novak household, gathered at the Inn and followed Dean and his family to the Campbell tree. Dean was dressed in well fitted leathers and was sandwiched between his father and brother. Several community members were helping to carry boxes of supplies and bags that Kevin wasn’t sure were for, but he took pictures anyway. The march to the tree was anything but quiet. Some people were singing, others were chatting, and there was a soft ringing of laughter in the air; although, Dean seemed to be radiating nerves for some reason.

Finally, they approached the Campbell tree. It was an ancient, strong tree, and though had less branches than the Novak tree, each branch was bursting with ornaments, lights, streamers, and ribbon decorations. There were ornaments with fresh berries and dried flowers giving off a fresh scent, ornaments made of wood and metal, the ribbon decorations from the Inn, and of course the natural ice ornaments. The tree glimmered with reflected light of every color and in front of it stood the alter that had been worked on since Kevin had arrived. The wooden alter was long and short, but the entire thing was engraved with what now looked like pictures telling a story. He could see two boys playing in a forest on the left, in the middle there were two young men sitting side by side in a small cave as rain fell, and on the left were two hands tied together. The legs of the alter had been carved to look like entangled roots and branches and the top of it had been altered to create 3 circular indented spaces. The whole thing was glossy now, making the wood seem darker, shinier, and smoother. It was a work of art now. 

Polly and Kevin took arranged themselves on different sides of the ceremony, in order to get different angles. Ben went with Polly while The Doctor and Jamie stayed with Kevin. 

Once people had settled a bit, Dean was led in front of the tree by his family. Mary beseeched the tree for its blessing as Sam tied Dean’s wrist to John’s, first with the ribbon Kevin had seen Dean working on many times in the Inn, then with straps of leather, and finally with flexible tiny branches from their tree. Dean looked even more worried now, but John just smiled at him and murmured comforts. 

“Hey Kevin.” Kevin’s attention snapped to the side, where Charlie was standing with a wide smile. “So, Sam asked me to come over and tell you what was going on as it happened for your article.”

“That would be great!” Kevin said excitedly. The Doctor smiled and put his hands together, “That will be quite nice. I’d love to hear to as well.” 

“No problem-o, I’m on it. So, basically, they are starting by asking the tree to give its blessing to their household and to the current heir of the family, Dean and his wedding. They are showing that he is bound and loyal to the tree and his family through the hand-tying. Mary, as the community leader and as the current head of the Campbell tree basically has to double her work here, by beseeching the tree as both roles.” 

Kevin nodded as he listened and watched. Next, Mary was handed a small box which she took over to the alter and went down on her knees. She opened the box and pulled out a bowl of something Kevin couldn’t see and placed it in the center space of the alter. “So, as the community leader, she has to offer the tree something that is made in our community. That bowl and the beer in it was all made right here in our community, down to the very last ingredient.” Kevin took pictures and tried to keep mental notes of what Charlie was saying. 

“Wait, so they are giving the tree beer?” Jamie asked and Charlie shrugged, “It’s our community’s biggest export and one of the main reasons we can afford to keep surviving on Earth 2.8.” 

Soon, the Novaks made their way into the group. Castiel, who was tied wrist to wrist with his father, like Dean, was led to the front with his family close behind him. Dean gave a nervous smile to Castiel, who returned it seemingly a bit embarrassed. Probably because some of his brothers were a bit loud with their colorful comments about clearing the way. 

Sam and Anna came up to the alter next, each carrying a box. They both knelt and quietly beseeched the tree for its blessing. 

“So, now each family will offer something to show what their family provides for the community. Usually the fathers would do this, but well, complications right? Anyway, Sam and Anna are going to basically tell the tree that both families are in support of the marriage and ask for the couple to be blessed. Yada yada yada, Castiel and Dean are faithful, they love each other, that kinda stuff.”

Kevin nodded and took a few more pictures as Anna placed a tray of small bottles and soaps he recognized from the hot springs on the left space of the alter. “See, the family that is losing a branch places their offering on the left, because that is supposed to signify the past while the right side signifies the future.”

“Ah. So the pictures then, those are supposed to be Dean and Castiel right?”

“Bingo.” 

Next, Sam offered a pie to the right side of the alter. “That is John Winchester’s famous mixed berry pie. Old recipe from generations ago, that is what they needed all those berries for. Too bad no one is going to get to actually eat it.” Charlie teased.

“What a waste.” Jamie scoffed, only to get elbowed by the Doctor. “Och, it is!” 

“Jamie.” The Doctor scolded and Jamie quietly went quiet. 

Soon Sam and Anna stood and returned to their families. The group watched as Dean and John approached the tree. “You are gonna wanna hear this, Cas and Dean have to beseech the tree now, basically they have to tell the tree about why they want to get married.” Charlie led the group a bit closer now, which made it harder to get clean shots, but they could hear at least.

“I remember, the very first time my dad sent me to go ‘down the path’ by myself was to deliver a message to Bobby. I was about 5 and I was so excited to finally be able to go out on my own. I was walking down the path, all proud of myself, when I heard music from the forest. I’ve uh, I’ve always loved music. When I was just a kid, my mom would sing to me every night. So, when I heard the music, I had to find out what it was, I’d never heard anything like it. Of course, I was too young to realize that the music was more screeching than anything.” The community laughed quietly. 

“Anyway, I went off the path, I knew I shouldn’t, but I had to find the music. It took a while, but there, by the stream, was Cas sitting with his violin that, at the time, was way too big for him.” Dean looked over at Castiel, who was stubbornly keeping his eyes on the tree ahead of him, his cheeks burning red. 

“He stopped playing when I got there. I asked him to keep going and he did. I sat and listened to him play for, probably an hour. He finally stopped because he got tired. That is when we introduced ourselves. I knew from that minute I had found my best friend. Cas has never left my side, he’s always played the music I needed and guided me to wherever I needed to be. I need him, so uh, please, let me keep my best friend. I swear I’ll always protect him and feed him amazing dinners. I uh, I’ll love him too. More than anyone else ever could, so, please just, let me have him. Let his branch be with mine, where it belongs.” 

Castiel finally glanced at Dean with an unsure smile, but Dean reassured him with a nod. Castiel and Chuck stepped forward as John led Dean to the side a bit.

Castiel started, “When I turned 10, it was decided that I was going to be a hunter. I began training in the woods every day; I had to do everything like learning how to use weapons, how to move through the forest without a map, how to move silently, how to kill kindly and efficiently, and I learned how to fight and defend myself. I was good at it, but I hated it. The first day I had to kill an animal, I cried and ran to Dean’s house. He didn’t question me or blame me, he didn’t say I needed to suck it up and do my duty, like most of my brothers did. He took my hand and led me into the forest, far off of the path. We found a cave and Dean said we never had to go back if I didn’t want to. That he wouldn’t let them turn me into something I wasn’t.” 

“We stayed in that cave for 2 whole days, living off of nuts, berries, and stream water.” Castiel said with a smile that quickly spread to Dean. “In the end, our families found us; of course we were punished and my training continued, but knowing that Dean saw me for who I was and supported me, even in my little rebellions, meant everything to me. I think that is when I fell in love with him. From that time on, whenever I needed to escape, to feel like myself, to get out of the noise of my household, I went to him. Just talking to him or being close to him makes everything better. My roots will always stay with my family, with the Novak tree, but I ask that you let me take my place with Dean and join myself to him and his family. He is my home and I need him.”

Dean used his untied hand to take Castiel’s and they looked at the tree, waiting. Kevin looked around and noticed that everyone was watching the tree in a palpable suspense. Even Charlie had gone silent, watching and whispering under her breath the word ‘please’ over and over. 

Then, just as the silence began to sour with fear and worry, Kevin witnessed another of Mary’s small miracles: a new branch sprouted from the tree, intertwining with another branch and instantly blooming with ice ornaments. Immediately the entire crowd burst into applause and cheers. Dean bit his lip and tugged at Cas’s hand desperately, both laughing in relief. 

Sam cut the ribbon, leather, and branches that bound Dean to his father from John’s wrist, leaving it all hanging from Dean’s. On the other side, Castiel looked down to watch as Anna cut the binding from his own wrist, leaving everything connected to Chuck. Mary moved between them and using a ribbon that Kevin had seen Castiel working on at the Inn, tied Castiel’s wrist to Deans. The two looked at each other with a mix of relief and extreme urgency as Mary made sure they were joined by ribbon, leather, and branches. “Welcome to the family, Castiel.” She said gently and moved out from between them. 

Instantly, Dean pulled Cas to him, kissing him passionately, their tied hands clasped together as their free hands wound around one another. “I love you Cas.” Dean said in between kisses, not really letting Cas have enough time to respond outside of mere murmurs into their kiss. 

“You make sure you find a stream, Dean, stay hydrated.” John said as he brought over one of the packs of supplies Kevin had seen earlier. 

“Yeah and try to get far out enough that we don’t have to hear you.” Sam teased, bringing the other. Cas and Dean finished their kiss with another 3 small ones. “Yeah, we got this. Pretty sure the best cook and hunter in the community will be fine out in the woods for a couple days, isn’t that right baby?”

“Yes, Dean, I think we’ll be just fine.” Cas said with a glint of lust in his eyes. 

Kevin looked over at Charlie, “So uhm, what are they talking about?”

“Oh, right, sorry, got caught up in the moment. Anyway, Now that the tree has blessed the wedding by granting Cas his own branch, Cas and Dean are going to go live out in the forest for a couple days.”

“What? Why?” Jamie asked curiously. 

Charlie blushed bright red looking away, “Well, you see, there is sort of this tradition that when a couple marries, they go out to the forest to uhm…procreate. Doing it out in the forest not only blesses the union, but they say it helps with conceiving and childbirth.”

Kevin looked at her blankly with his mouth hanging open and his brain stuck frozen for a moment, “So, wait, let me see if I get what you’re saying here. Dean and Cas are going to go out and fuck in the woods for a few days in the hopes of getting one of them pregnant somehow?”

“What? No, I mean, obviously, neither of them can actually get pregnant, but I mean it might help Amelia have an easier childbirth if you believe the superstition and honestly, not being able to actually get Castiel pregnant, really isn’t going to stop Dean Campbell from trying. I say we’ll be lucky if they come back in a week.” 

Jamie grinned, “Aye that sounds like Dean.” Charlie lifted her brows and shoulders, nodding her agreement awkwardly. 

“Hm well, I guess that’s, interesting then. But wait, I heard there was some kind of party?”

“Oh yeah, huge party, just not for the people getting married. It’s for the rest of us. We are all going to the Roadhouse, Ellen has cooked up a storm; it should be pretty awesome. In fact, if we want to beat the crowd we should get going. You ready?”

Kevin looked around and saw that Dean and Castiel were being given the packs and some weapons as their family teased them with advice. “Yeah, let’s go.”

As they entered the Roadhouse they found a small table covered with the little colorful gift bags that had been made at the Inn. Charlie grabbed one for herself and motioned for the others to take some as well. The place was covered with streaming ribbons and beautifully painted signs wishing Dean and Castiel luck, some more vulgar than others. “Take a place anywhere, Charlie.” Ellen called over from her place behind the bar. 

Charlie found them a table with enough room for Ben and Polly to join them later and they waited as people slowly began to file in. A band began playing and Ellen, Bobby, and Jo quickly worked to serve everyone. They had a full meal planned out with appetizers, salads, main course options, and desserts. 

“That was so incredible, the way the branch just…” Polly finished with a gesture and Jamie nodded, “I nearly thought the thing was gonna attack us.” 

“Oh please, it was so romantic and those stories about them when they were young, it was all really sweet.” Polly said with a sigh. 

“Aye, it’s a good thing Castiel’s violin playing has gotten better though, eh? I’ve heard people try to play the fiddle and get all that screeching, it’s no- good.” Jamie said, taking another drink of his beer. 

“Speaking of which, this music is quite lively, I almost wish I’d brought my recorder.” The Doctor said, humming a bit as he listened to the band. 

“Aye, and my bagpipes!” 

“Well we lucked out on that one, right duchess?” Ben asked quietly, leaning towards Polly, who nodded firmly. Kevin snickered a bit, wondering what they were even talking about. 

“That would have be delightful, Jamie. It really is too bad.” The Doctor said, not having heard Ben’s comment. 

Jamie seemed to blush a bit and look towards the dance floor, “Ye know, we could still go an’ dance, if you want, Doctor.” 

“Ah, excellent idea. Ben, Polly, Kevin?” 

“’We’re alright, ain’t we? You guys go have fun.” Ben said with a grin, giving Polly and Kevin pointed looks.

“Oh yes, we’re fine, maybe we’ll join you later.” Polly said with a smile and The Doctor nodded, “Alright then, shall we, Jamie?”

Jamie smiled brightly, “Aye.” 

“Bout time.” Ben said watching them go out to the dance floor. The two weren’t the most elegant of couples on the floor, but they were clearly enjoying the music, stealing touches when they could. “They are a bit hopeless aren’t they?” Polly added with a smile. 

“They just need a slow song. Someone should go make a request.” Charlie said with a grin. 

They continued to drink and talk, watching Jamie finally manage to get a hold of the Doctor’s hands as they danced, taking turns spinning each other. Charlie eventually left the group to see her own friends. They had taken several pictures, discussed the wedding, and even danced a bit, before returning to the table for drinks. At which point, someone approached the table.

“Uhm, Ben?” Everyone looked up to see Anna. “I was wondering if you might, want to dance, just as friends, of course.”

Ben looked her over for a moment, Kevin had to admit Anna looked beautiful with her hair up and a dark blue, handmade, cotton dress, “Peace offering huh? Alright, maybe one dance.”

Polly and Kevin watched him go. “That seems like a bad idea.” Kevin said quietly and Polly shrugged, “He can do what he wants.” 

“So, how did the pictures turn out?” Kevin asked and Polly smiled at the change of subject. They huddled together and compared pictures over their drinks when a round of applause caught their attention. They looked up to see Sam shaking hands with Bobby at the center of the applause. Kevin suspected that meant Sam had decided to take the wood working position. He watched Sam mingle politely, though his smile was clearly forced, and eventually Sam managed to escape them, at which point he went straight for the door. Kevin watched with worry for a moment and Polly leaned close, “I’ll watch the cameras.” 

“Thanks.” Kevin replied and quickly headed out after Sam. “Sam, wait!” The giant turned around at the call, after clearly wiping his face. 

“Kevin, hi.” Sam managed a smile now, a real one, not big, but there. “Enjoy the wedding?”

“More than you, I’m guessing.” Kevin said approaching Sam. 

Sam gave an airy laugh. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Kevin asked and Sam managed to look him in the eyes and give a small nod. “Ok, uhm, where?” Kevin asked and Sam gave another quiet laugh, “Come with me.”

Once again, Kevin found himself off the path. They sat close together beside the stream. The water was so clear that Kevin could see all the way to the bottom and every now and then, he could spot small fish whirling their way down stream. The place was still close enough to see the community, but far enough away that the noise of the party had died away. 

They sat in silence for a moment, while Sam collected his thoughts and eventually he started, “Because Castiel is going to help Dean with the Inn, I needed to find another position. Dean says otherwise, but they wouldn’t really need me there. I mean, I can still live there until I get married, help out a little, but really I’d just be taking up space.” This was the conversation Kevin had accidently overheard between the brothers, it had never gotten settled, then. 

“I thought you loved working at the Inn; talking to people and getting their stories for your book, isn’t that what you really want to do?” 

“I do, but if I can’t be useful to the community then it would be pointless. We all have to contribute.” Kevin gave a quiet ‘Oh’, not completely sure how he felt about the statement.

 

Sam continued, “Anyway, Bobby’s daughter Jo is taking over her mom’s place, so they needed someone to apprentice for Bobby. He’s getting old and he didn’t want to wait for someone to be big enough to handle all of the equipment, so it worked out pretty perfectly. I mean I could have taken Cas’s position as hunter, but you know how I feel about that.”

“When are you going to start?”

“Probably when Dean and Castiel get back.”

Kevin thought about it for a moment, “But, Sam, don’t you want to do something you enjoy? You don’t have to just take whatever is available right? I mean Castiel didn’t like being a hunter and he managed to find something else.”

“Through marriage, yes. I could do that, but I don’t really have any plans to get married for a while yet, and I need a position. Plus Bobby is a close family friend, he babysat me and my brother a lot when we were little. He helped raise us. I owe him.” Sam finally looked from the stream to Kevin and Kevin’s resolve broke. Screw noninterference and screw being politically correct and culturally sensitive. 

“There is a difference between owing someone something and shaping your entire life around what other people want. Or at least, there should be. What I’m saying is, and I know it isn’t my place, you have your culture and you are happy with everything, but Sam, it’s clear that you want more than this. You want to travel and learn, you want to experience the universe and I think you should. Maybe you could get new skills and bring them back home, it could be an investment for the community. You shouldn’t have to force yourself into something that doesn’t make you happy just to feel like you are being useful. Your family and community would understand, they love you.”

Sam looked at Kevin for a moment, searching his eyes as if a response was lying in them somewhere, but he couldn’t find it and tears started to build, “No they wouldn’t. They love me. But, this is how we do things. No one leaves, Kevin. We can’t. It’s too selfish. I do want things, a lot of things, but I know that those dreams aren’t worth the damage chasing them would do. My family needs me, the community needs me, even if it’s as a woodworker, I have to take my place.” 

“You are so much more than that. You _deserve_ so much more than that.”

Sam shrugged, “Woodworkers are crucial members of the community, we need them to–“ Kevin pressed forward, cutting Sam off with a soft kiss, barely pressing his lips to Sam’s. When Kevin felt Sam relax, he moved a couple inches away, looking into those sunflower, starburst, nebula eyes, with his heart caught in his throat, “You should be free.” 

Tears continued to build in Sam’s eyes and finally they ran down his cheeks as he shut his eyelids, moving forward for another kiss. Kevin gave a quiet ‘Mph,” in surprise as Sam turned his body more fully towards Kevin’s. The kiss was tighter this time, more needy. Kevin cautiously moved his hands up to Sam’s chest, before sliding them up around his shoulders. At this point, Kevin could hardly register what was happening, the only thing in his mind was that somehow he needed Sam to realize how important his feelings were and that he was worthy of more than he was giving himself credit for. 

Of course, that clarity shattered into pieces the minute Kevin felt the tip of Sam’s tongue experimentally sliding against his lips. Kevin instantly opened his mouth and lured Sam’s tongue in, sucking and licking it as he moaned in pure ecstasy. Kevin wanted to crawl into Sam’s lap, or push him down to the earth, but at this point he just held on and let his body flush with goosebumps. Little shocks ran up and down his spine as Sam’s large, sturdy hands gripped his sides and pulled him close. 

After a moment of breathless kisses and desperate moans, Kevin got more confident and finally let his hand move up to Sam’s hair, gripping the thin silky strands gently. Sam gasped as Kevin tugged lightly and then came back even more fiercely into the kiss, biting playfully at Kevin’s lips. Kevin felt all of his blood and heat melt to his cock; he longed for everything he could get, whatever Sam wanted, he’d give it. He was nearly in position to move into Sam’s lap when Sam broke the kiss, and pulled away, taking several deep breaths. Kevin looked at him and knew instantly something was wrong. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have, this, can’t happen. I’m sorry.” Sam said again before taking quick, large strides back towards the path. Kevin watched him leave with the worst-case of whiplash he had ever felt. He laid back in the dirt and listened to the stream, his hand going to sooth his aching cock by readjusting himself. 

“Fucking great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm getting busy again, but I'll update when I can~


	7. One for Many

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naomi arrives to talk to the community.

“It doesn’t matter anyway, it’s not like I’m going to be here that much longer and Sam sure as hell isn’t going to leave. It just, would have been nice, even for a little while, you know? Ugh I don’t know how I let myself get into this. I’m such an idiot.” Kevin said, holding his face in his hands, curled over the side of his bed with his elbows to his knees. 

Ben sat on his own bed nearby, “I’m right there with you, mate. Anna’s got me wrapped right around her little finger, she does.”

“Teases, the whole lot of them. Hell, that’s what I should write my article about. Earth 2.8, the most romantic planet in the universe, is full of teases.” Ben laughed and Kevin finally looked up at him, “I guess there had to be something wrong with them though right? I mean, people like them don’t exist anymore, not off this planet at least.”

“Yeah? What do you mean?”

“I’ve never met anyone like Sam, back home. He’s kind, smart, and gorgeous obviously, plus he’s curious about everything. I love that. Not to mention how calming he is, like we could just sit and talk for hours without needing to go do something big or exciting.” Ben grinned at him and Kevin folded over again, putting his hands in his hair this time, “Ugh I need to just let this go. Focus on my work. It’s done.”

“Yeah, well if he’s anything like Anna, give him a day and he’ll be all over you again.” Ben said with a tired sigh. 

“You know, I think I could handle that. In fact, that sounds perfectly acceptable compared to what I’m guessing the alternate is, which will probably be super awkward avoidance.” 

“Aw come on mate, you deserve better than all that.”

“So do you.”

“Well, you aren’t wrong.” 

“So what do we do?” Kevin looked up at him. 

“No idea.” Ben admitted with a shrug and Kevin laughed. 

“Guess we should at least go get cleaned up. I’m amazed Polly hasn’t come to wake us up yet.” Kevin said, looking around and trying to assess if it was actually ‘morning’.

“Maybe we actually got up before her for once. You know what that means?” Seeing the glint in Ben’s eyes, Kevin instantly caught his train of thought. 

“Revenge?”

“Hmhm.” Ben hummed with a wicked smile. Without another word the two quickly jumped off their beds and ran down the hallway to Polly’s door and started banging on it frantically.

“Hey duchess, it’s time to get up!” Ben called out in between chaotic knocks. 

“Let’s go Polly, you don’t want to miss breakfast do you?” Kevin called against the door. 

“Ok, I’m coming, stop knocking I already have a massive headache you don’t need to make it worse.” Polly responded before finally showing up at the door. 

Kevin’s eyes widened when he saw her; she was in a robe with her hair tangled and sticking out everywhere and for once she didn’t have make up on. Despite looking exhausted, disheveled, and hung over, she was still absolutely beautiful. 

“Wow duchess, hope you got that bus’s number.” Ben teased, only to get a glare from Polly. 

“Do you want some medicine, Polly? I could go get you some.” Kevin offered, but she shook her head and moved to let them in. 

“That’s very sweet, Kevin, but I’m fine, thank you. I just drank too much last night.”

“That’s pretty rare for you.” Kevin commented and Polly gave a shrug, whatever her reasons were, she clearly didn’t want to talk about it. 

“So, what’s on the agenda today?” Polly asked as she pulled a brush from her bag and began to fix her hair. 

“Today we are going to go to the place where they control the atmosphere and weather. It’s pretty far so they are having us take a shuttle.”

“Oh I bet Jamie will love that.” Ben grinned, “No- more metal beasties,” he said mimicking Jamie’s accent and Polly lazily tossed a slipper at him, “You be nice.” 

Ben caught it, “Hey, I didn’t say it was bad, it’s cute.” 

Kevin wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but it didn’t stop him from smiling along with them. Even if things had completely crashed and burned with Sam, at least he had his new friends still. 

Once Polly was reasonably put together, they went to wake Jamie and The Doctor which, as usual, took a while because of Jamie.

“My feet are killing me.” Jamie complained as they walked down the path towards the hot springs. 

“Yes, I’m afraid I’m in just as bad of shape, we may have danced a bit too much last night.” The Doctor responded and Jamie smiled proudly before taking The Doctor’s arm, “Well, then, we should walk together, eh Doctor?” 

The Doctor leaned against Jamie, “Oh yes that is much better. Thank you Jamie.” Ben, Polly, and Kevin shared a secret look at that. 

They got to the hot spring and found Chuck running the front desk as usual. He still had the ribbon, leather, and twigs from the wedding tied around his wrist and Kevin smiled a bit at it. He couldn’t help but wonder if wearing the bracelet was part of a tradition or if it was just because he missed his son. 

They quickly received their baskets, took their showers, and settled into vanilla and berry scented water. 

“Ah, my feet feel better already.” The Doctor announced as he slipped further into the water until only his head was visible above it. 

“Aye, I could stay in here all day.” Jamie said leaning back with his arms spread across the rim of the hot spring behind The Doctor and Ben. 

“You do that and you’ll be smelling like some French desert for the rest of your life.” Ben teased. 

Kevin closed his eyes and put his wet hand towel over them as he leaned his head back. With the warm water caressing him, he could feel Sam’s hands on his waist again. He licked his dry lips and tasted Sam’s lips lingering there. He began to remember every moment of their kiss, every touch and gasp, the warmth and longing, he thought about what it would have felt like to move onto Sam’s lap and grind against him. But the moment he felt his body heat up, his daydreams were interrupted by reality; No matter how right it felt, in the end, Sam had walked away regretful and was letting himself get trapped in a life he didn’t want for the sake of duty. Then his thoughts took another turn as he reminded himself that he was no longer going to think about Sam. He needed to focus on work. Not that that would be easy while he was staying at Sam’s family’s Inn. But he could do this, probably. He just needed to focus on getting his story and getting a raise. He’d be home in no time now.

After a long soak, they went back to the Inn for breakfast. Sam was serving everyone alone now while John cooked. They took their usual table, where Polly was already waiting for them. 

Sam looked up after hearing their voices and caught Kevin’s gaze. Sam’s smile dropped instantly and he stared at Kevin with sad eyes and lips slightly parted as if aching to say something, but unsure of what to say. Kevin wanted nothing more than to cross the dining area and pull Sam to him and reassure him, but he knew better. He wasn’t going to do this. He wasn’t going to let some stupid crush wreck him like this, no matter how perfect Sam was. He turned back towards his table stubbornly and tried to pay attention, unsuccessfully, to the conversation going on around him. 

After a few minutes, Sam came to their table and started pouring glasses of juice. He started at the far end of the table, away from Kevin and worked his way around to pour Kevin’s glass last. Kevin kept his head down and his eyes focused on the table, despite the fact that he could feel Sam’s gaze all over him. The entire table seemed to know that something was up, because they were all oddly quiet and the air was strangely thick. Sam hesitated before putting Kevin’s glass back in front of him, but he managed to do it with an awkward smile, “I’ll bring around some food in just a second. Sorry for the wait.”

When Kevin didn’t say anything, Polly politely broke the silence, “It’s alright, Sam. We know you must be very busy without Castiel and Dean around.” Sam gave her a grateful smile. Kevin felt his whole body shiver at seeing the smile before he quickly realized that he had started looking at Sam again and quickly turned away. From this distance he could smell Sam and feel his heat and it all felt so familiar and enticing. Kevin bit his lip roughly trying to get control of his thoughts, but before he had much chance to, Sam was off serving drinks to other guests. 

“You are so screwed.” Ben teased. 

“He is not, Sam was giving him the same longing stare. He likes you, too, for sure.” Polly assured Kevin. 

Kevin gave a quiet sob like laugh, “Oh the irony.” Polly looked at him confused, but Kevin couldn’t bring himself to explain the story again.

Ben leaned close to Polly, “Sam likes him alright, just won’t let himself do anything for his own sake. It’s all about the community and what have you.” 

“So, he won’t be with Kevin because he’s an outsider?” Polly asked and Kevin sighed looking at her in defeat and began to explain in a whisper, “He wasn’t very specific, but I think that’s one reason. Plus, Sam isn’t really in the best of places to be thinking about romance anyway, what with his new job starting when Dean and Cas get back.” Out of the corner of his eye, Kevin caught Sam going into the kitchen and gave a subconscious sigh. 

“Poor young man, being forced into something he isn’t interested in, it’s a terrible fate. Freedom is crucial to happiness and it is worth fighting for.” The Doctor said firmly, the way his eyes darkened, Kevin could tell this was a familiar topic for The Doctor. 

“I dinnae know, I was a piper because that’s what my family does and I dinnae mind it. I still got to fight and serve my laird.” 

“Yes, Jamie, but you love music and fighting. Things worked out well for you, like they did for Dean, who loves to cook and hunt. But for those who are placed into roles they don’t appreciate or aren’t good at, their feelings will be quite different.” The Doctor explained, with his usual animated looks, lowering his dark, heavy eyebrows for emphasis. “Many cultures, including humans, have been known to put destinies and expectations on their children; they try to force them into roles simply because of their heritage, but you must see with our travels how limiting that is.” 

“Oh, aye, that’s a good point.” 

“I’m glad I never had to fall into any particular role just because my parents wanted it. I can’t even imagine what they would think up, but it certainly wouldn’t have been very fun.” Polly added, thinking out loud.

“I still probably woulda been a sailor.” Ben realized and gave a quiet laugh before drinking down some of his juice. 

“If my mother had her way, I’d be a doctor. Or the president. Probably president of New Earth.” Kevin added and Polly looked at him with surprise before laughing sympathetically, “No pressure there, or anything.”

“I would have been forced into politics as well.” The Doctor added and Jamie, Ben, and Polly looked at him in wonder, though Kevin wasn’t sure why they would be so surprise; from what he’d seen, the Doctor was a patient and intelligent man who would probably be a great leader.

“Back on your home planet?” Jamie asked carefully, as if treading on thin, cracked ice. 

“Yes, when I was young, but all of that responsibility wasn’t for me. I wanted adventure. What about you Kevin, why not enter politics?”

“Because I wanted adventure too, I guess.” Kevin said with a small smile and The Doctor grinned back. 

Sam brought out their plates two at a time and handed them out. Kevin’s hand brushed against Sam’s as he took his plate and he had to stifle a whine from his throat at the brief contact; his mind and body were clearly on opposite sides of this ‘let’s not think about Sam anymore’ game. 

They ate with some light amicable discussion as Ben, Polly, and Jamie tried to probe more personal information from the Doctor, without success. Kevin was beginning to see why they had been so surprised before, the Doctor seemed very good at avoiding giving straight answers when it came to personal information. Then Kevin remembered what Jamie had told Dean: he didn’t even know the Doctor’s real name. That made sense too though, the group had only ever called him Doctor, never John Smith. Kevin’s curiosity built as he tried to imagine why The Doctor would hide his real identity from his friends. The Doctor could be a fugitive, or a refuge, or someone under a witness protection program. Maybe Kevin was focusing on the wrong story. 

“Good morning everyone.” Anna said brightly as she and Samandriel approached the table. “The press only tour shuttle is ready to go when you all are. We will be out in the lobby, so take your time and make sure you have everything you’ll need for the day. We won’t be back for several hours.” 

“Right, thanks Anna, Samandriel.” Kevin said nodding to them and the two went off, Anna giving a small private look to Ben before heading into the lobby. 

Kevin went back to his food and his eyes wandered in rebellion to where Sam was chatting with another table. He was smiling politely, but Kevin knew Sam’s smiles well enough now to tell that it was forced. Even if they couldn’t be together, he still wished Sam didn’t have to go through all of this. Sam glanced over at Kevin and Kevin immediately looked back at his food, willing his cheeks not to go red. 

“He’s still looking at you.” Polly whispered and Kevin’s focus broke and he blushed, “I don’t care.” “Right, of course you don’t.” 

After breakfast, Kevin collected his equipment and joined the others in the lobby. Anna and Samandriel took them up to the landing platform. The minute they rose above the tree line, Kevin nearly went blind. He shut his eyes tightly, and let them slowly adjust to the sudden burst of natural light. By the time they were on the platform, Kevin could keep his eyes open, but he was still squinting and blinking uncomfortably. Anna led them towards a small parked shuttle, where a thin man with a light brown mullet stood waiting. “This is our community’s shuttle, Mary often takes it to meet with the council members, it’s also used for trades and on rare occasions, visitation when someone wants to meet their birth family in another community. Everyone please take a seat and buckle yourselves in and we’ll get going.”

“Are ye sure about this metal beastie, Doctor?” Jamie asked from his place, close beside the Doctor. 

“I’m sure it’s perfectly safe, Jamie. Come on now.” Ben gave Polly a look and she just rolled her eyes as they got into the shuttle.

The shuttle itself was small, but it had big beautiful windows that would allow them to see the view as they went, not that there was anything to see except the tree line. After everyone was settled, the brown haired man poked his head in, “Alright, we all ready? I’m Ash and I’m gonna be your pilot today so get ready for a nice chill ride. Based on weather conditions, we are gonna be in the air for 2 hours and 37 minutes exactly, so make sure to get comfortable. I’ll be putting on some music in a minute and there are beers stashed in the back, so help yourselves.”

“Ash…” Anna scolded and he put his hands up, “Hey, there is nothing wrong with mixing business with pleasure. I’m just making sure everyone has a good time.” Anna rolled her eyes in response and Samandriel seemed to sink lower in his seat out of embarrassment. 

“Ok, let’s get going then.” Ash said and headed for the pilot’s seat. Anna looked at the others, “I assure you, he is an incredible pilot, despite what his looks might suggest.”

“I heard that.”

“Then you know I was complimenting you, you ass, now get us moving.” Anna shouted back and the shuttle began to shudder awake. The shuttle hovered straight up from the platform and then with a quick jerk, dashed forward. Jamie grabbed onto the Doctor’s arm and Polly leaned close to the window with a wide grin. Kevin took pictures and a small video of the tree line.

Once his eyes fully adjusted, Kevin felt a surge of energy from being in natural sunlight. He didn’t realize how confining being stuck under the trees had been. Not to mention, it felt good to be in a shuttle again. It moved a lot like the cars on New Earth. Although, at least here, they didn’t have to worry about the Macra. 

“How many trees do ye reckon there are, Doctor?” Jamie asked quietly and The Doctor smiled, “I have a feeling our pilot could answer that.”

“You have no idea, please don’t get him started.” Anna replied with a sigh.

“Eh?” Jamie asked and The Doctor smiled pulling a pocket watch from his endless seeming pockets. “He sounded very confident and precise about the length of our trip, I imagine that means he’s quite good at calculation.” 

Jamie still looked lost, but gave an “Oh, aye,” before looking out the window again. 

Exactly 2 hours and 37 minutes after the time they took off, they arrived on an identical platform, but beside it was a huge spherical building, covered in solar energy panels. The Doctor checked his pocket watch, clearly impressed with the pilot’s accuracy while Jamie and Polly stared at the spherical building in awe and Ben finished his chat with Anna. Kevin prepared his camera and tablet, he wasn’t sure this information would go into the article, but it would be good to gather anyway. 

Anna led them all off the shuttle to where Ash was waiting near another gondola, looking smug, but Anna just shook her head at him. 

They rode the gondola down just below the trees to a door on the spherical building. When they walked inside, the overly clean smell and hard lighting reminded him of an office building. Anna led them through a sterile white hallway, “This building houses all of the machines we use to regulate the atmosphere and the weather. All of our seasons, the rain, the snow, everything is controlled here. Without this place, we could not survive on Earth 2.8, so this is our top priority and we put all of our energy and resources into maintaining and protecting it. Our scientists are gathered from every community and they work together not only to keep things working, but to constantly be looking for ways to make things even better. Our goal is that someday, we will be able to live on this planet without artificial intervention, but that is still generations away.”

“I’m surprised a bright young man like you wasn’t chosen as a scientist.” The Doctor said to Ash who was trailing behind, “I was actually.”

“He got thrown out for fighting.” Anna said dryly and Ash gave a nod with a ‘that about sums it up’ face. Kevin couldn’t help but wonder about Ash and Anna’s relationship. Could they have been close at one point? 

“Take a look to your right and you will be able to see the machines themselves.” Anna gestured towards some windows on the right that looked into the center of the building. It was full of massive machines that Kevin didn’t really understand, but the size alone was staggering. He took a couple pictures and continued to move with the group. 

“Here is where our scientists work, they have several lab areas set up to make and test plans to assure our colony’s longevity.” An older, somewhat chubby man with a lab coat came up to them, “Oh look, the ragdoll is back.”

“Nice to see you too Frank.” Ash said with a sarcastic smile. 

“We’re just here on a tour for the press.” Anna said pointedly, as if trying to reign them in, but Frank just gave her a deadpan look, “Listen sister, do I look like I care? Just stay out of everyone’s way and don’t touch anything. Think you can manage that?”

“Yes, Frank, I’m sure we can manage that.” Anna said clearly battling herself to remain calm. 

“Good, then get to it and get out. I’m busy here.” He went off on his way and Jamie leaned close to Ash, “I think I can guess who you had a fight with.” 

“He’s not even the worst one, brother.” Ash said and Jamie looked at him wide eyed. 

“Anyway, come along, perhaps Ash can explain how everything works?”

“Well, if you ask that nicely, how can I refuse?” Ash led the group from there, showing them various machines and processes, but his explanations were above what Kevin could understand. In fact, really only the Doctor seemed to understand as he kept asking clarifying questions and giving suggestions. 

“A scientist and a pilot, too bad about the hair.” Polly said with a sigh, stepping next to Kevin. Kevin laughed, “It is a little hard to overlook.” They snickered together and Ben looked over at them suspiciously, but Polly just put her hands up, silently telling him it was nothing. 

Kevin leaned close to Polly, “The first guy I ever had sex with was a pilot. A captain, too, actually. Not sure what he was captain of, but to be honest, I barely remember the guy’s name. It started with a J though. John, James, Jack, something like that. He had great hair, great everything actually.”

“You naughty thing you.” Polly teased, “Tell me more.”

“We hooked up in a bathroom stall at this amazing club downtown. Nearly got busted too, but it was totally worth it.” 

Polly snickered and bumped shoulders with him, “Well done.” 

Polly didn’t need to know about the fact that every hookup Kevin had ever had, had been in the bathroom of a bar or club. He’d never had a boyfriend or dated anyone, he was too busy with work to make friends, much less have a relationship. On New Earth, that sort of thing wasn’t uncommon though. Still, bathroom hookups got boring after a while and they definitely didn’t feel worth it after you had to see the Sisters of Plentitude about creams to stop the itching. The idea of relationships were so beyond Kevin’s experience, he honestly had no idea how the process was supposed to even go. That was probably another reason he’d screwed things up with Sam. But the idea of having Sam around all the time, living with him, actually having slow, meaningful sex, on a bed, that all sounded amazing. But no, he screwed his chance up. No more thinking about Sam. Maybe Kevin would finally let his mother set him up with someone when he got home. Or maybe he could try one of those dating networks. Either way, Sam was off limits. Even if he made the best noises when Kevin tugged his hair. No more. 

Kevin shook his head trying to clear it and found that the tour was nearly over and they were making their way back down the sterile hallway. He snapped a couple more pictures and got back onto the shuttle. 

“I wish we could ride the shuttle during the sunset, I bet it would be so beautiful.” Polly said quietly. 

“You could ask Ash, I bet he’d be happy to take you up.” Anna suggested and Polly gave a polite smile back, “Maybe I’ll do that.” Ben lifted a brow looking between them. 

“I think I’m done with these beasties for a while, I actually miss the TARDIS.” Jamie said quietly and The Doctor pat his knee, “Don’t worry Jamie, another couple of weeks and we’ll be home.” 

There it was again, TARDIS. “Is that your ship?” Kevin asked curiously and the Doctor nodded, “Yes, it’s just a nickname of course, not a model type.” 

“Ah. So you guys all just travel around together then? What do you do? Deliver packages or something?”

“No, we just live on the generosity of others, usually.” Polly admitted with a shrug. 

“Wow, I don’t think I could do that.” Kevin thought about free lancing when he originally set out to be a writer, but the idea of not having deadlines or consistent pay checks had scared him away from the idea. 

“We do like to live dangerously, don’t we?” The Doctor gave a laugh and Jamie nodded, “Aye, dangerously is one way of putting it.”

“We do well enough though, don’t we duchess?” Ben said with a grin from his spot next to Anna. “Yes, I think so.” Polly confirmed and Anna sighed, “It must be nice to have so much freedom.” 

“Yeah, it’s not too bad.” Ben said, trying to make it sound like no big deal in order to impress Anna, and it seemed to be working. 

They landed and Ash led them to the gondola ride, “See ya around.” He said to the group, giving a wink at Polly who just turned to Kevin trying to hold in her laughter. Once again, they were lowered under the tree line and found themselves back in the endless dark of the forest. Anna and Samandriel led them back to the Inn only to find the lobby in a tense moment. 

“You must surely have one room open.” A woman with a tight brown bun and stern features stated, more demanding than questioning. 

“We have something, but it’s small, I don’t think it will fit your, entourage.” Mary replied motioning to the two men standing behind their guest. 

“We’ll make room, don’t you worry.” The woman assured Mary. Behind Mary, John and Sam stood wary and quiet.

“Very well Naomi, you are welcome here, of course. Sign in with my husband and my son will take your bags for you.” Kevin’s eyes widened, this was it, Naomi was here. He had to bug her room before she got in it. As far as he knew, there was only one empty room in the Inn, and it was the tiny corner room on the opposite end of the hall from Mary and John’s room. 

“Uhm, I need to go check something, I’ll meet you guys down here in a bit for lunch.” Kevin said quickly before dashing for the stairs as Naomi went to the desk and his friends settled into the lobby. Kevin moved like a hurricane; he had put his spare bug away, not thinking he’d need it, so it took him several minutes of frantic, desperate searching to fish it out of his equipment bag. By the time he was back in the hallway, he saw Sam going to Naomi’s room with her bags. Kevin hesitated, this was going to be awkward, but he needed to bug the room if he wanted to get his political intrigue story. He could talk to Sam. Maybe it would actually be good if they spoke. 

He waited until Sam had unlocked Naomi’s room and went in before he moved in as well. As Sam tried to arrange the bags next to Naomi’s bed, Kevin silently slipped into the room behind him and quickly stuck the bug onto the wall, just behind a dresser. It began to camouflage itself by going invisible, just as Sam turned around. Kevin froze wondering if he’d be caught. Sam gave a look of surprise for a split second before letting a sad look spread over his face. 

“Kevin.” He said in a broken whisper and Kevin immediately realized that this was a terrible plan as his heart started to shatter with that one word. 

“Sam, I uhm, this was a bad idea. Sorry.” He turned and rushed out of the room, leaving Sam there, staring at his back. Kevin returned to his room, shut the door, and flung himself against it as tears filled his eyes. What was wrong with him? Why was he so incapable of doing this whole people thing right? How could he let things get this bad? Just yesterday Sam trusted him and cared about him and now just being near the man made him sound like _that_. Every stupid fantasy he’d had about Sam was torn from him in that moment, he couldn’t even be friends with the man, not if he made Sam that unhappy. Sam had felt like salvation in a lot of ways, a chance at something beautiful and good, but now that was ruined. Sam hated him, he regretted what happened between them and didn’t want to be reminded of it. Reality hit Kevin like an avalanche and he slid to the ground, curling his face to his knees as he kept his back to the door, crying. What was he thinking, he could never actually find love; all he was good for was hookups. He was just another quick easy lay who you never had to worry about calling, because he’d be too busy to pick up anyway. There wouldn’t be any comfortable dinners together after long days at work, no cuddling and reading, no romantic trips throughout the universe, no love, no passion, just work, coffee, houseplants and a mother eagerly waiting for a son-in-law that she was never going to get. Kevin felt his throat swell with tears as he sobbed into his knees. Of course, with all of that sobbing, he didn’t hear the quiet footsteps outside his door or the sound of a hand gently resting against the wood, longing to go in. 

By the time Kevin had gotten a hold of himself, his eyes were bloodshot and puffy and he felt drained. He grabbed his water bottle and splashed some of the water onto his face, and noticed his breaths were still ragged. After a few moments of forcing his breathing to slow, he finally went back downstairs to see only John at the counter. 

“Where…did…” Kevin asked quietly looking around the empty lobby. “Your friends are in the dining room.” Kevin felt his throat tighten again, did they hear him and decide to just start eating without him? Maybe they just forgot about him. That wouldn’t be surprising. He felt his paranoia creep up on him again, but the minute he entered the dining room it was quelled by his friend’s smiling faces as they called him over. 

“Sam said you had something you needed to do and that we shouldn’t bother you, so we decided to grab some drinks. Did you get everything taken care of?” Polly asked gently, obviously trying to avoid the fact that it was clear that he’d been crying. 

“Yeah, I uhm, I did get everything taken care of.” Kevin said quietly and almost immediately, Sam came over with a steaming mug, “I don’t know if it’s any good, but I tried.” His voice was quiet and shaken as he placed the mug in front of Kevin and quickly went back to the kitchen. Kevin felt tears fill his eyes again when the smell of coffee flooded his nose. 

“You alright?” Jamie asked quietly and Kevin lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip. It wasn’t fancy, but it was coffee and at that moment he was sure he’d never had any coffee better than that. He put it down and managed a weak smile, looking over to the kitchen door, “I’m alright, thanks Jamie.” Jamie looked at the Doctor with worry, but the Doctor just gave his hand a pat. 

In the late afternoon, everyone in the community was gathered to the meeting hall. The tourists mostly stayed in the back, but there was enough room for everyone to find a spot to sit. 

Mary was center stage and she waited for everyone to get settled before she began to speak. “Good evening everyone, as you may have heard, one of the leaders from another community is here to speak to you about a proposition she is heading. She is going to be giving a talk to explain her ideas and then, once my son and his husband have returned, we will be voting on whether or not we want our community to support her during the council vote. Take the days in between hearing her initial argument and the vote to speak with her about any questions or concerns you have. If you feel more comfortable with it, I will also be available to hear your concerns. Now, please give your attention to our guest, Naomi.”

There was a polite applause as Mary went to sit and Naomi came to the stage. “Greetings, citizens of Occulta Caelum, my name is Naomi and I’m the community leader for Velut Ferrum and I am here to propose something that, though controversial, will ultimately make our lives endlessly better. For generations, we have taken care of the trees and they have taken care of us, more or less. Despite our symbiotic relationship, the truth of the matter is, we only survive here because of our technology. Even the trees would surely burn up if they were not protected by our machines. The atmosphere, the energy, the animals in the forest, the fertilizer for the trees and plants, the rain and the streams that we share, all of it exists because of us. Everything that keeps us and the trees surviving, is here because of us. We live on whatever scraps we can afford, in order to continue living here because despite the flaws, this is our home. But for once, open your eyes to look outside. The rest of the universe has machines to do everything, they have medicine to heal just about anything, and they live in comfort while we live in squalor. But this doesn’t have to be so. We are the dominant species on this planet. We don’t need the trees, they need us and yet we bow to them. We do everything we can to honor them and what do they do for us? Really? What do they do that we couldn’t? If we harvested one tree, not a family tree, of course, but just any other tree in the forest, we could sell it for enough money that we could enhance the lives of everyone on this planet exponentially. We could have enough energy to run the machines we need to live on this planet and have enough extra that we could update our homes. We could all have refrigerating units to keep our food fresh for longer, we could get showers in every home, and we could gather a wider range of medicines and medical equipment to help those in need. We could even buy a ship to allow our people to travel and conduct trade in person. We could do anything if we just harvest one single tree. The trees have been honored for long enough, it is time for them to do something to help us. One single tree could change our lives forever. It could let our colony grow and evolve. How long do you want to just barely scrape by? How long do you want to live in fear of the day we cannot keep our machines running? This would assure our safety and strengthen us. ”

Naomi read the room, people were quietly disapproving and muttering together, “I know it sounds like heresy, but it is one tree for the good of the many. The trees will benefit from this too, it wouldn’t all just be for us. Think of the future, as it is, we rely on our small amount of exports, royalties, and the money we get from tourists to continue to run the machines that keep us all alive. Anything could happen, the new movie could be a mess, there might be a mistake and our beer exports might be destroyed, stolen, or lost, tourists might become more interested in some new, more interesting planet, one small change anywhere in our income and we would all be dead. That is how close we are living to the edge. But with only one tree’s brave sacrifice, all of us on this planet would be safe for decades to come, giving us more time and resources to devote to finding a more permanent solution. I know that the idea sounds horrible and cruel, but you must think about it. Remember, we live for the community, not for ourselves, this is the same thing. One sacrifice, for the good of all. I hope that all of you who have doubts or are unsure, come to speak with me in the days to come. I am here to help. I want what is best for all of us, to strengthen our communities and help our planet prosper.” 

Mary came up on stage and began clapping, encouraging the crowd to join in despite the awkward air in the room. 

“She cannae actually think people will agree with her, can she?” Jamie asked the Doctor and the Doctor closed his eyes in thought before responding, “She truly believes that what she is saying is right and her community obviously supports her, so she has no reason not to believe that others can be swayed.”

“But it’s no- right, right? The trees do take care of them and they are alive, they cannae just sacrifice one like that, can they?” Jamie asked and The Doctor grinned at him, “I thought you didn’t care for them?”

“Well, I changed my mind. I’ve seen them help. When we were fighting the mire beast, one of them helped Dean back on his feet.”

“They helped me get back to the community when I got lost.” Kevin added. 

“Ah yeah, I had that too, actually. The little roots pointin’ the way an’ all.” Ben said with a grin. 

“Not to mention they hold the Inn up.” Polly added. 

“Yes, I agree the trees have been most hospitable neighbors, but unfortunately, greed can be quite corrupting. If people think that one tree will do such great things for them, they may not see that they are stumbling upon a dangerous slope.” The Doctor added and began to wring his hands, “I don’t like the sound of this, not one bit.”

“Mary won’t let it happen, she’s completely against this.” Kevin said on reflex and the others looked at him, “How do you know that?” Polly asked and Kevin blushed. 

“I overheard her talking to her husband about it when she came back that first night. Mary doesn’t want this to happen, I’m sure she will keep her community on her side.”

“But if a bunch of the other communities agree with Naomi, it won’t matter, will it?” Ben asked and the Doctor nodded, “Indeed.” The crowd was beginning to get louder, some shouts were sent out here and there as people began to debate with each other. “My word, this is getting rather exciting isn’t it? Perhaps we should get back to the Inn?” The Doctor suggested and his companions nodded, quickly following him outside. 

“Do you think there is anything we can do, Doctor?” Polly asked as they moved along the lit path. 

“Not yet, no. I think a lot of it depends on how the community votes and what Naomi’s reaction to it is.”

“But, being outsiders, we can’t really do anything about it, right? I mean we can’t vote or anything.” Kevin reminded them, but the Doctor got a shine in his eyes, “Sometimes outsiders are the only ones who can see the problem objectively. We had better keep our eyes open the next few days, the Campbells may need all the support they can get.”

That night, Kevin kept his headphones on and waited to hear what he could get from his bugs. It wasn’t until late that night that Naomi returned to her room.

“We still have a lot of work to do, they seem divided though, so we have a foot in the door. If we can get Mary’s community on our side, the others will fall easily. I want you two out there mingling with the people. Get them thinking, help them see that we need this.” 

“Yes ma’am.”

“Right.” Kevin heard the two leave the room and then pass his room on the way downstairs. 

The next two days, the entire community seemed changed, people’s easy smiles were gone and they spoke in hushed whispers. Kevin spent most of his time listening to what his bugs were picking up, taking notes, and asking around for opinions. He found most people to be strongly against the idea, but some people did long for the change and safety going through with the act would bring. With all of his focus on his article, Kevin was finding it easier and easier to avoid Sam. He started to eat more of his meals at the Roadhouse as well, so the only times he really even caught a glimpse of Sam was when he would return to the hotel and find the man working the front desk. 

Meanwhile, Ben, Polly, Jamie, and The Doctor, went on damage control and tried to undo whatever Naomi’s assistants did, keeping the community members aware that sacrificing one tree would more than likely lead to a widespread harvest and destroy generations of tradition. With efforts from both sides, tensions remained high for 3 more days, until Dean and Castiel finally returned.

Kevin hadn’t been there for the initial return, but when he returned to the hotel to check what his bugs had heard, he saw Castiel at the front desk instead of Sam. “Welcome back.” Kevin said as he entered and Castiel returned it with a quiet, rumbling “Thank you”. Even from across the room, Kevin could see the love bites and marks left all over Castiel’s neck. He couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous; spending that long in the forest just fucking the one you love with no other cares in the world sounded like a pretty good time to him. 

Kevin made his way into the dining room where he found Jamie and The Doctor taking a break for tea. He learned from them that the vote was going to be held that night and that Dean was absolutely livid. Dean had freaked out about the vote and Naomi’s plan, and then he had freaked out on Sam for accepting the job with Bobby. Dean had apparently threatened to take Cas back to the forest and ‘screw the community’, but ultimately decided that if the community fell apart this bad from him just being gone a few days, leaving permanently would probably doom the entire planet. 

After their big fight, Sam had apparently gone that afternoon to begin his apprenticeship with Bobby which meant Kevin wouldn’t need to avoid eating at the Inn anymore, but it also meant that whenever he did see Sam, he would probably look even more depressed than he already did the days following the wedding. Kevin wasn’t sure he could handle that either. If Sam wanted to destroy his life, that was his business, but Kevin didn’t want to see it and constantly be reminded that he couldn’t do anything to help. Determined to continue avoiding Sam as best he could and keep his focus on his work, Kevin went to wait in his room until the vote. He listened to what the bugs had recorded and got what he could, but more than anything it was just worry and preparation on Mary’s side and desperation on Naomi’s. 

When everyone was called to attend the vote, Kevin went downstairs to see Castiel trying to calm his husband among the tourists that were all quietly predicting the outcome of the vote. “Dean, look at me, it’s going to be ok? Our community would not let something like this happen.” 

“You heard what mom said, some people were defending the idea, Cas.” 

Castiel took a hold of Dean’s jacket and pulled him in for a strong, but quick kiss, “The majority will win, like always. Even if a few people are misguided or blinded by promises of prosperity, the majority know that this is wrong. Believe in them.” Castiel put his hand to Dean’s cheek and Dean leaned into the touch, “Ok, Cas.” 

Mary walked in with John close behind her, “Are we ready?” 

Sam nodded looking around the room, his eyes stopping on Kevin’s for a moment creating a cessation in Kevin’s heart, but Sam quickly looked away and seemed to shrink into himself, almost as if he were ashamed. Kevin watched him a moment longer out of curiosity, but his attention was soon called elsewhere as Mary and John went into the center of the room. 

“Alright, let’s get going then.” John called out and everyone began heading toward the community meeting hall. Kevin took his space in the back with The Doctor, Jamie, Ben and Polly, and waited while Naomi reminded them what was at stake followed by Mary encouraging them to vote as their hearts would guide them. Kevin could practically hear Dean muttering in irritation under his breath and it made him smile. He didn’t realize how much he’d missed having Dean and Castiel around, but they brought a perfect balance of energy and calm along with the sheer combined force of the two powerful, capable men. He almost wished they’d let Dean do a speech, he was pretty sure that no one would vote in Naomi’s favor if he got to say a few words. Kevin’s eyes moved from Dean to Sam, who despite looking exhausted, kept looking over at his brother, in irritation, probably over the muttering, but possibly because of their fight earlier. Still, at least they were sitting together, Kevin was sure that Sam was going to need his brother to get through everything. 

After the speeches were given, everyone was handed a small wooden voting chip and told to put it either in Naomi’s bucket or Mary’s bucket. John stood beside Naomi to make sure no tourists accidentally voted; he may have also been there as a silent threat, warding people from voting for her. Kevin took several pictures of the process and watched as people flooded forward to vote. 

After the votes were placed and everyone was settled in their seats again, Mary and Naomi took turns counting the wood chips in their buckets. Everyone sat anxiously waiting for the results, but Mary’s smile was confident as she counted her chips. The Doctor must have picked up on her confidence as well, because he seemed at ease as the counting proceeded. Kevin glanced at Sam again and then back at the counting. He prepared his camera to take multiple shots and perfectly captured the moment Mary announced: “Proposition Denied” and the community cheered. Though a few people seemed disappointed, most people were on their feet shouting. 

“Thank goodness.” Polly said sighing in relief. 

“Yeah, who knows what that would’ve started. Probably would have lost their whole forest within the year.” Ben said shaking his head. 

“I don’t think Naomi is going to give up quite so easily, though.” The Doctor said quietly and Kevin looked passed the cheering crowd to where Naomi stood watching them. Her face remained stoic and her eyes gleamed with determination. 

“We should go back to the Inn.” Kevin said quietly and the others looked at him. “Just, trust me.”

The group went back to the Inn and crowded into Ben and Kevin’s room. Kevin knew he probably shouldn’t, but he trusted his new friends and he had a feeling that with whatever Naomi was preparing, he was going to need them, so it was time to include them in his investigation. 

“So, I uhm, I bugged a few rooms in the Inn and Mary’s office because I wanted to find out more about Naomi’s plot in case something big happened.”

“You put bugs in their rooms? How does that help anything?” Jamie asked disgusted and Polly sighed, “Bugs are like recorders, remember that voice recorder I showed you? It’s like that.”

“Oh. Why do ye call ‘em bugs then?”

“Not right now, Jamie.” Polly said impatiently. 

“Wait, seriously? How long ago? I mean I share a room with you and I didn’t even notice any of this.” Ben said in surprise and Kevin blushed, “Uhm, since basically the day after I heard Mary talking about Naomi.”

“Wow, well, nice work, mate.”

“Thanks.” Kevin smiled and set up his equipment, “So like this, we should all be able to hear what she says. So far, I haven’t really gotten much information, but if she is smart, she won’t say anything to her goons until she gets back to her room, after all the trees might hear her right? Our best chance to get something good is now.” Kevin announced and Jamie nodded, “Sounds right to me.”

They waited quietly, huddled together to listen. It took about 45 minutes, but Naomi and her men returned to the Inn. 

“Both of you pack the shuttle, we are leaving tonight.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The group listened to the men moving noisily around the room, grabbing the bags, and then the door shut. Kevin bit his lip, “Come on, come on, something, anything.”

Then they heard it, Naomi was quietly speaking to someone, probably on a communicator device. “There you are, listen, we have to take it to the next level, the people need to see how important it is that we don’t rely on the trees forever. You already have everything you need right? Good, I expect you to take care of this. I’m going to continue trying to convince the others. If you need any help, you know who to call.” Naomi must have hung up then, because she went quiet and gave a slow, long, sigh. Then the door shut and they heard her move down the hallway passed their door.

The group remained silent until they couldn’t hear her on the stairs anymore and then they all looked at one another. 

“What could she have done?” Ben asked looking at the Doctor. 

“I’m afraid, we will just have to wait and see.” The Doctor responded quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support as always <3


	8. Returning to the Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Investigation takes a sharp turn.

The next day, Kevin was ready to investigate. Hidden in the everyday of the little village something was going to be different, some plan was going to begin spinning its cogs, and Kevin was going to find it. The Doctor’s group decided to help by splitting up to look around for anyone or anything suspicious.

Kevin headed 'down the path' to the greenhouse first where he found Charlie hiding in her office to avoid the water raining down from little sprinklers in the ceiling. Kevin waved to catch her attention from outside, it took a while, but she eventually spotted him and returned his wave. When she realized that he wasn't leaving, she gave an exaggerated 'Oh' and held up a finger asking him to wait. Kevin nodded his understanding and waited for her to shut the sprinklers off. Instead his eyes went wide as he watched her run through the sprinklers with her face scrunched tight to keep the water from slipping into her eyes. 

“Ahhh that was cold.” Charlie said as she burst through the door, pushing the water from her arms as she bounced in place a bit to keep warm. 

“You ok? Couldn’t you have just turned them off?”

“Yes and no, it’s better to stay on schedule with everything, besides it’s kinda warm today, right?”

“Kinda, I guess.” Kevin said, though he was still wearing a jacket. 

“Anyway, what’s up?” Charlie asked somewhat settled, but still rubbing her arms. 

“Well, this is going to sound a little weird, but have you noticed anything weird this morning?” 

“Actually, not this morning, but I did last night, if that still counts?”

“Yeah, of course, what happened and when?”

“It was pretty late, I was already in bed, but I kept hearing this weird noise out in the forest. It was like, something big was crawling around. I hope it wasn’t a mire beast…it was really close to my house.”

“Do mire beasts usually come close to the community?”

“Nope, they know they’ll get killed if they do. Most animals don’t really get close at all, which is why I thought it was weird.” 

“Right. Makes sense. So, you didn’t get a look at it or anything?”

“Nope. Just heard something moving around out there. I could kinda see shadows, but it just looked like wind rustling the branches and I swear the noise wasn’t the wind.” 

“Ah. Ok, so you don’t think it could have just been people?”

“Not unless they were crawling around…and huge?” Kevin gave a curt nod as he pursed his lips and wrote her comments on his tablet. Charlie looked around anxiously, “So, not like it’s a big deal, but is there any reason in particular you’re asking me about this? Like did something happen I should know about?”

“No, just, I thought I saw something out there too.” Kevin lied and Charlie’s eyes lit up, “Really? Last night?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to see if anyone else saw anything before I mentioned it to the hunters.”

“Good idea, they don’t really like goose chases. Which is dumb because they are going out there anyway, right? I mean is it really that much to ask that they keep a look out for certain kinds of plants while they are hunting? I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, totally. Anyway, I’m gonna go ask around a bit more, I’ll keep you updated though.”

“Thanks, oh hey, hold on a sec.” Charlie went back in and pulled something from a plant and returned to Kevin, “For your trouble, good sir.” Kevin held out his hand and Charlie dropped a starfruit into it. 

Kevin examined it for a minute, he’d never seen one before, but it was beautiful. “Thanks, Charlie.” She smiled at him and gave his arm a pat before running back through the sprinklers to her office. 

Kevin finished recording Charlie’s words and then made his way down the path. He found the hunters lodge next and knocked. After a long moment, a large scruffy man with pale blue eyes answered the door. Kevin recognized him from the wedding party, they hadn’t been formally introduced, but he remembered hearing about a hunter named Benny.

“Can I help you, brother?” The man asked with a surprisingly light melodic voice; something about the way he spoke made it seem like his words just rolled off his tongue. 

“Yeah, I’m Kevin Tran, I'm here to do an article. I was wondering if you’ve seen anything strange today or maybe last night.” 

“Benny Lafitte, pleasure.” Kevin smiled and gave a nod as Benny continued, “I don’t know what you’re looking for, but I’ve been cooped in here all morning handing out rations, so I ain’t seen nothin', sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“Oh, so you aren’t going out to hunt today?”

“Nah.”

“Ah, well uhm, thanks, I guess.”

“Hey, you’re staying at the Winchester Inn right? If you are heading back there, could you take their rations for me? It’d save me a trip.”

“Oh, yeah, sure, I guess.”

“Thanks, that’s mighty kind of you.”

“Why do they need rations I thought they got their own meat?” Kevin asked as Benny led him into the cabin.

“They do when Dean’s around, but in case you missed it, he was a bit tied up this week.” Benny winked and Kevin inwardly sighed.

“Anyway, this’ll give him enough to last a couple days till he feels like going out again. Who knows, maybe now that they are married he can con Cas into coming with. Guy’s a weird one, but he can hunt.” 

Benny handed Kevin the rations in a small ice filled box. “Right, well I’ll just take this over there then. Uh, if you do, you know, hear or see anything weird, let me know.”

“Sure, brother.” Benny opened the door for Kevin as he left. He hadn’t been planning to head back to the Inn so quick, but now he didn’t really have much of a choice. 

When he got back in, he saw Anna meeting with the other tourists about visiting the inter-community trading center. Oddly, Samandriel wasn’t there. But, Kevin didn’t have time for tours right now, not with an investigation on his hands. He smiled at the group and quickly continued towards the kitchen, but stopped short at the sound of arguing coming from inside. He recognized the voices as Sam and Dean and paused to listen curiously. 

“Dean, can you just, support me in this, I really need you to support me.” 

“I just wish you would have waited till I came back and we could talk about it some more, Sammy.”

“So you could convince me out of it or make up busy work to keep me here?”

“That’s not-“

“That is exactly what you’d do. Look, Bobby needs an apprentice and honestly, working with him is great. He understands that you need me here sometimes and he doesn’t mind. When Claire comes, I’ll still be around to help whenever you need me.”

“Look, it’s not that I can’t do this without you, it’s that I don’t want to, Sam.”

“You are going to be fine, Dean. You have Cas and dad. You have to let me go my own way.”

“I would, if you were actually going your own way, but come on Sam, you might be able to convince everyone else you’re fine with this, but I know you better. This isn’t you.”

“It is now. That’s just something we are both going to have to accept.”

Kevin felt his heart break further, but the minute he heard Sam approach the door he panicked and knocked, nearly dropping the box. Sam opened the door and instantly his face melted from frustrated to the same sad puppy-dog face Kevin had seen the last time they stood close like this. They looked at each other for a moment, silent and still, unable to speak until Dean broke the moment with an irritated, “Guys?”

Kevin shook his head and looked down at the box, “Benny asked me to bring you your rations.” 

“Oh, thanks Kevin, you didn’t have to do that.” Sam said quietly, putting his hands out to take the box, aiming carefully so his fingers gently caressed Kevin’s as he did so. Kevin looked back up at him to find Sam giving a weak, hopeful smile, and with that, whatever was left of Kevin’s heart crumbled to his shoes. He couldn’t take this, he didn’t know what Sam wanted. Was he really just like Anna? Was this a game? But the warm, smooth touch made him linger for a moment, reveling in it despite his brain screaming at him. 

Eventually, he got ahold of himself and Kevin managed to pull his hands free and look away again, “Its ok. It was on the way.” 

“Oh, well, while you’re here do you want anything? I could get you something-“

Kevin looked back at Sam, meeting his eyes, “You don’t work here anymore, Sam. It’s fine. Benny asked me to bring the rations, so I did. I’ll be going now.” He meant for it to sting and he clearly hit his mark. Sam’s brows lifted in surprise and he looked ashamed as he tightened his grip on the box in his hands, but Kevin didn’t sit around to let his strength seep from him at seeing Sam’s pain. 

He left quickly and took a deep breath when he heard the door shut behind him. He wasn’t going to play games with Sam, the man had made his choices and he needed to face them with a sense of reality. Kevin thought about what Dean had said and realized that he wasn’t the only one who thought Sam was making a big mistake. Somehow, that was comforting. Maybe eventually, Dean would at least get through to Sam and help him find his way. Kevin wouldn’t be here though. He would be home. There was no sugar coating it, Kevin’s stay was over half over now and he was busy, he had work to do. He wasn’t going to keep letting Sam Campbell string him along with longing looks and small, sad smiles. 

Despite all that, he wanted nothing more than to run up to his room and listen to the kitchen-bug to hear what they were talking about. Whatever it was, they were quiet about it. Kevin shook it off and headed out to continue his investigation. 

The first day of his Naomi-investigation, however, was a bust. He ended the night drinking beer with The Doctor, Ben, Jamie, and Polly. Castiel was playing the violin in the corner and Dean was cleaning up the tables. From everyone’s reports, they had gathered what looked like a random list of unhelpful facts: something moving in the woods, a missing bottle of wine, a dead chicken, and Samandriel not showing up for work. 

“So, anything on the-you-know-whats?” Ben asked lifting a brow suggestively and Jamie looked at him confused, “What?”

“The bugs, Jamie.” The Doctor whispered and Jamie gave a loud, “Oh, aye! Those!” 

“I only listened to the important one, but all I found out is that Naomi is starting her talk in the next community over; it doesn’t seem to be going any better than it did here.”

“There’s that at least.” Ben said lifting his beer and Kevin clinked his own against it, “I guess.”

“We just have to try again tomorrow, then. There are a few people we still haven’t spoken to.” Polly said looking at her list. 

Kevin looked at the list feeling a bit disheartened. Maybe this story wasn’t going anywhere. He took another long gulp of his tangled branches and finished it off. “Think I’ll head upstairs, listen to the bugs and get some sleep, see you all in the morning.” They all wished him a goodnight and Kevin headed out into the lobby where he saw Sam on the couch facing the fire. Kevin quietly tried to sneak to the stairs, but when he got to the foot of them without a word from Sam, curiosity got the better of him and he glanced back. Sam was clearly asleep. Kevin bit his lip, willing himself to just go upstairs, but his feet had other ideas and he walked over to Sam.

On Sam's lap, sat Kevin’s book and at his side was a wooden carving and a small carving knife. The sculpture looked like a strange horned deity or something. Kevin’s eyes crept carefully to the man and he saw that Sam's long neck was arched over the back of the couch; there was no way that wasn’t going to hurt in the morning. Although, Dean would probably wake him up right? Unless Dean was too far into making out with Cas to even see him, which was more than a little likely. Kevin sighed, cursing his good nature, and gently put his hand on Sam’s arm, “Sam?” 

Sam shook awake with eyes wide until they focused on Kevin, “Wha- oh, did I, I fell asleep didn’t I?” 

“Yeah.” Kevin said simply, as he corrected himself, looking away and releasing Sam’s arm. 

“Thanks for waking me up.” Sam said quietly, lowering his head as well. 

“No problem, goodnight.” Kevin rotated quickly and headed back towards the stairs before he could give himself time to think.

“Wait. Kevin.” Kevin turned back to see Sam looking at him with intention, thinking his words over before continuing, “I’m sorry, I know things have been weird, I’m just trying to keep from drowning at this point, if I’m honest. I know you don’t agree with what I’m doing, Dean doesn’t either, I’m not even sure Cas does. But my parents are proud and Bobby is excited and honestly, it’s been ok. I mean I’m not even that bad, see?” Sam lifted the deity and Kevin lifted a brow, “What is that?”

“It’s a symbol of protection, it’s supposed to lead you to god in times of trouble. I’m making it for Dean, I still want to make it smaller, maybe put it on a necklace or something. Probably sounds stupid, but I thought maybe it might show him that I can do this.”

“I don’t think he doubts your ability to do it. I think he doubts that it's what you _should_ be doing.”

Sam looked down with a twitch of irritation, “Shouldn’t I be the one to choose what I ‘should’ be doing?” He was snapping back, this was an interesting turn of events. 

“If you are genuinely thinking of your best interest, then yes. But if you aren’t, maybe you shouldn’t be.” Kevin responded fiercely and Sam looked up at him in disbelief, but he was grinning and that’s when Kevin realized he was too. That probably said something about them that Kevin wasn't sure he wanted to dig into. 

“So, you’re saying that you and Dean are thinking of my best interest, right?” Sam asked getting off of the couch and moving close to Kevin, towering over him with an almost arrogant, teasing smile. 

Kevin licked his lips unconsciously, “Yes.”

“Then what _should_ I be doing?” Sam asked, lowering his voice to a whisper. 

Kevin blushed and a thousand responses ran through his head. Half of them resulting in Sam bending over the couch and the other half telling him to find a job that he could love, one that would let him write. But in the end all he could say was, “You should be better to yourself.” Sam’s grin wavered and turned into a sincere smile. 

“I’m trying.”

“I hope so.” They went quiet for a moment then, Sam still towering over Kevin, close, but not touching. 

“Can we…” Sam started quietly and Kevin felt heat run through him, “Can we be friends again? Please? I miss you.” Sam admitted and Kevin froze. 

“You do?”

Sam nodded, “Yeah and I really don’t want to spend the rest of this month wanting to talk to you and not being able to.” 

Kevin smiled shyly, “Ok.”

Sam gave a sigh of relief that ended with a light laugh, “Ok, good. So tomorrow, after work, maybe you and me can go to the Roadhouse or something?”

“Sure.” Kevin’s brain was now in a mantra of ‘What are you doing?’ But his heart was gluing itself back together as warmth spread through his whole body: somehow this perfect, beautiful man actually missed him. He didn’t deserve that. He didn’t really even know what to do with it, but it felt so good. 

“Great! I’ll see you tomorrow then, the book is really great by the way.”

“So, it didn’t put you to sleep then?” Kevin asked and Sam laughed, as he motioned to the stairs, “No, I was just really tired,” Sam explained as they made their way upstairs.

“You can admit it, I think it put me to sleep a couple times on the ride over here, fortunately Jamie’s kicking kept me awake.” Sam laughed and that sound cut straight through Kevin, quieting his brain. Maybe this was a terrible idea and maybe it was going to hurt even worse when he had to leave, but maybe the memories would be worth it. 

They got to the top of the stairs and Sam looked down shyly and gave one more quiet goodnight before heading into his room. Kevin went to his own and settled on his bed. He considered listening to the bugs, but he didn’t want to hear what Dean and Sam had said in the kitchen, whatever it was, things worked out for the best, and it wasn’t his business. To keep himself from temptation, he erased the kitchen bug’s recording for that day and went to sleep. 

The next day, the boys were in the hot spring when a series of bells sounded. The natives in the hot spring looked at each other in alarm and darted out of the water. 

“What is that?” Jamie asked covering his ears with his hands.

“Not sure, but we had better go see.” The Doctor said moving out of the hot spring quickly with the others behind him. They dressed quickly and rushed out to follow the noise and the others. They were led down the path to a small medical care lodge. Everyone was waiting outside with worried looks and trying to find out what had happened in hurried whispers. 

“Excuse me, could anyone tell us what’s going on?” The Doctor asked a few people and eventually another familiar face from the wedding party answered, it was the thin blonde brother of the Novak family, Balthazar. 

“Someone found a body in the woods, apparently.” He explained and Kevin felt his chest tighten. 

“A body?” The Doctor echoed and the man rolled his eyes dramatically, “Yes, a body. Don’t look so surprised, animal attacks happen, we live in the woods.” 

“Do ye know who it was?” Jamie asked, taking the Doctor’s arm protectively.

Balthazar shook his head looking at the hospital, “No, to be honest, I’m just hoping it was a tourist, no offense.”

“Balthazar!” Scolded another person Kevin recognized from the wedding, it was a woman with brown curls and an honest face.

“Hannah, you aren’t head of the family yet, I don’t need you scolding me. Besides, you know you feel the same way.”

“Except, if it’s a tourist we are all dead because no one is going to want to come here again.”

“Oh please, no one will ever even hear about it.”

“I literally work for the press. They’ll hear about it.” Kevin said waving sarcastically. 

Balthazar rolled his eyes, “Hannah, can you honestly say you’d rather it be one of us?”

“Well no, but, you don’t have to say things like that.”

Balthazar crossed his arms giving a shrug. 

Castiel ran up to them, “Balth, what’s going on?” Balthazar smiled and instantly took a hold of Cas’ shoulders and looked him over, “Oh Cassie, you’re ok, thank the gods.” 

“Of course I’m ok. What about the rest of the family?”

“No idea, I know dad is fine and clearly, Hannah here is fine. I think I saw aunt Amara around here too. Naturally, Raphael is in there with the body. The rest though, no idea.”

“I’m glad you’re here brother.” Hannah said quietly.

Castiel smiled at his sister and pulled her into a hug. 

Polly looked around with worry, probably trying to spot the people she knew in the crowd. Ben gently put an arm around her shoulders, “It’s ok, Pol.” 

“Someone is dead, Ben.” 

“We don’t really know anything yet. Let’s just wait and see.”

Polly conceded and watched the door of the hospital with everyone else. Kevin felt a small thumping panic in his ribs as he waited, something felt overwhelmingly wrong. Ben said they didn’t know anything for sure yet, but the way the crowd looked, Kevin was sure someone was dead. If it was an animal attack, it could have been anyone. The community was so small, he was sure it would be someone he had at least met before. Kevin felt sicker the more he thought about it, there were so many people he hadn’t seen that morning yet, including Sam. 

Jamie was now clinging gently to the Doctor’s shirt, whispering so only their small group could hear “Do ye think it has something to do with Naomi?” 

“Perhaps, but I’m not sure how killing someone would lead her to her end goal.” The Doctor responded quietly and Kevin couldn’t help but wonder if he’d missed something. As he began to try and come up with theories as to why Naomi might have had someone killed, Sam and Dean finally joined them with Jo hurrying close behind, unable to keep up with their giant legs. A wave of relief washed over Kevin when he saw them. 

“Hey Cas, we know anything yet?” Dean asked moving close to his husband, but Cas just shook his head. “Where’s Benny? He must have been the one to find the body, right?”

Castiel looked toward the hospital, “I’m not sure, but if he did, he would be in there with Raphael and your mother.” 

“Guess we just have to wait.” Sam added and they all began to look towards the door again. 

Kevin listened to the bells cry their melancholy song into the forest, echoing off the trees and everything seemed to slow down as people moved around him, embracing their loved ones and trying to figure out what was happening. After what felt like hours, the door finally opened and Benny, Mary, and Raphael came out. Mary put a hand on Raphael’s shoulder in reassurance. 

Raphael cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the ground, “I have yet to determine the cause of death, but the victim was, my brother… Samandriel Novak.” Kevin felt nauseous, he covered his mouth with his hand and tried to calm himself. Kevin had been in battlefields, he’d reported on murders, he’d seen plenty of bodies, but he hadn’t ever known them and they had certainly never been young and innocent like Samandriel was. 

Amara fell to her knees and screamed and Chuck quickly went to her side, pulling her into a hug. Dean tried to pull Castiel close, but Castiel pushed him off, “I want to see him, cousin, please. Whatever did this, I will find it and it will die, I swear it.” his dark voice rumbled. 

“Cas, baby-“ Dean tried again, but Cas turned to him with dark, stubborn eyes, “Dean, he was my family.” 

“Ok, I get that. Just, whatever you plan on doing about this, I’m going with you, every step of the way, alright?” 

Castiel seemed to search Dean’s eyes for a moment before he finally nodded and moved forward allowing Dean to embrace him. Beside them, Hannah was crying and shaking her head in denial while Balthazar was cursing under his breath how it should have been a tourist. 

“Oh Doctor.” Polly whimpered and took his hand as Ben tightened his grip on her shoulder. 

“He was such a wee thing.” Jamie whispered, his voice breaking as he did so, and The Doctor nodded, pulling Jamie closer with his free arm so that Jamie was tight against his side. 

Kevin looked over at Sam who’s brow was wrinkled as he looked around the crowd, “Anna isn’t here…she needs to know. I’ll go find her.” 

“I’ll go with you.” Jo offered and the two ran off down the path. 

“I’d like to request that everyone return to their homes and stay out of the forest. We will be sending out hunters out this afternoon to handle whatever did this. As for the tourists, because of the danger, I’m going to be sending you to some neighboring communities for the remainder of your stay. Please return to the Inn and prepare your things immediately. I’ll be there to arrange things shortly.” 

The crowd began to disappear and The Doctor gave Polly’s hand and Jamie’s body a squeeze before releasing them and moving to Mary. 

“Pardon me, but I was just curious, you said you couldn’t determine the cause of death? I am a doctor, perhaps a second opinion might be helpful?”

“We really couldn’t ask that of you, you are here as our guest.” Mary began, but The Doctor waved it off, “Oh no trouble, as your guest, I feel I am obliged to help. Now, shall we see the uhm, patient?” The Doctor said, clearing his throat. 

Raphael nodded, “Alright…” Kevin watched with awe as The Doctor was allowed in with Raphael, Benny, Castiel, Dean and Mary. 

When they left and the crowd had primarily dissipated, only Kevin’s group and Samandriel’s family remained. Amara was still on the ground, holding her stomach and repeating ‘my baby’ in between sobs as Chuck held her. Hannah was on the ground trying to take her aunt’s hand only to be repeatedly swatted away while Balthazar stood to the side awkwardly. 

Polly looked away unable to watch the scene and turned into Ben’s arms. Ben held her close and kept his eyes away from the scene as well, unable to speak. 

“Maybe we should go back to the Inn?” Jamie suggested quietly and Polly nodded sniffling a bit as she released Ben who kept one arm around her, seemingly just as much for his own sake as hers. Kevin looked back at the hospital, as much as he hated seeing bodies, he knew where his story was, “I need in there. I need to know what’s going on. You guys go on ahead, I’ll meet you later.” Polly nodded and put her hand on Kevin’s shoulder gently before going off with the two boys. 

Kevin looked at the family once more, they didn’t see him, and everyone inside was probably distracted, so he held his breath and slipped into the cottage silently. There, in the center of the small clinic was Samandriel’s cold, pale body, with a large fist sized hole punched all the way through his chest. Kevin felt nauseous again as the hot, bitter taste of stomach acid lapped at his tongue, but he fought it and got out his tablet to make notes, trying to keep his eyes from landing on Samandriel’s face.

“Ah, there we are.” The Doctor had a magnifying glass in one hand and some metal instrument in the other which he was using to poke around the hole carefully. 

“Splinters. See? There are wooden splinters all through here, whatever did this, it was no animal, unless you have animals that can use wooden weapons?”

“We don’t have any weapons that would make a hole like this.” Castiel pointed out and The Doctor put the magnifying glass in his pocket. 

“Then perhaps someone used a branch? It may have even been an accident, perhaps we could take a look at where he was found?” 

“That’s a good idea, I want to see.” Castiel said roughly, Dean watched him from close by, filled with worry, but he remained silent. 

Benny crossed his arms, “Yeah, I can take you, but we better get ready, just in case. Get everyone suited up and we can go out there and look for what did this.” 

“I need to deal with the tourists and start funeral preparations.” Mary said taking a slow breath, trying to calm her nerves, “Castiel, dear, will you be alright?” 

“Yes, thank you, Mary.” Castiel said quietly, his eyes not leaving his young cousin’s body. Mary gave his shoulder a gentle pat and then looked at the Doctor and then at Kevin, who she just noticed. 

“Doctor, we do appreciate your help, but it would be safer-“

“Yes, I’m sure it would be, but I don’t think I could rest without doing everything I could to help make things right. Samandriel was a very kind young man and he didn’t deserve this horrible fate. I hope you’ll allow me and my friends to stay. I promise you we will not get in the way.” 

“He did help, I didn’t even see the splinters in there, I just assumed…” Raphael said trailing off and Mary smiled sympathetically at him, “It’s understandable, he is your brother. In fact, Raphael, you should join your family. They'll need you.”

Raphael nodded gratefully and moved out of the lodge. Mary looked back to the Doctor, scanning him, then Kevin, then the Doctor again, “Very well, Doctor you and your friends may stay. I need to attend to the others, Dean, you keep me posted. Don’t go off into the woods without telling me.”

“Ok mom.” She gave him a quick, comforting smile and headed out as well. 

“I’ll get ready at the hunting cabin, bring whoever you want and when you’re ready we’ll go look, stay strong brother.” Benny said quietly in his usual melodic tongue. 

“Thank you Benny.” Castiel said quietly and Benny pursed his lips and tugging his hat down briefly before heading out as well. Castiel went up to his cousin’s body and quiet, slow tears trailed down his cheeks. 

“I swear, I’ll make things right, cousin.” Castiel leaned down and hugged Samandriel to him. The Doctor pat Kevin’s shoulder, “Let’s wait outside.” 

Kevin nodded and followed quietly. Outside, Amara was holding onto Raphael tightly while Chuck held his own children close. By now Michael and Gabriel had joined them. Castiel and Dean came out next and Castiel went to his father, hugging him tightly. “Prepare for the funeral. I’m going to go investigate in the woods.”

“Be safe son.”

“Of course.” Castiel let him go and gathered Dean, Kevin, and The Doctor and returned to the Inn.

Mary was taking the tourists out to the shuttle with Ash, while Anna sobbed on the couch, clutching tightly to Jo, who pet Anna’s hair sympathetically. Castiel went to get armor for everyone who needed it and Dean went into the kitchen to prepare provisions for the trip, in case it went longer than expected. 

In the dining room, The Doctor described what he saw to the others and Ben sighed, “So much for a peaceful vacation, I guess.”

Jamie sat back in his chair, “Ye know, we should have expected this, wherever we go, it’s always like this.” Kevin wasn’t even sure what to do with a statement like that, but for now, every time he blinked he saw Samandriel and felt his stomach churn, so he tried to stay focused on the case. 

“But who would murder Samandriel?” Polly asked. 

Kevin gently tapped his digital pen against chin before placing it to his tablet, “Do you think this might have something to do with Naomi?”

“Why would she target Samandriel though? Wouldn’t she go after Mary directly?” Polly responded quietly. 

“Well, technically Samandriel is related to Mary now, through marriage. He is Castiel’s cousin.” The Doctor clarified. 

“That’s a bit far though isn’t it?” Ben asked and Kevin shrugged, “Unless the victim didn’t matter?”

“Excellent point, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have no idea how this boy died. Even if someone had a wooden bludgeoning weapon, how would they get it straight through his chest? The cuts around the edge were rough, but it was also close to a perfect circle and there wasn’t any extra bruising, which to me suggests that the puncture was done in one movement, rather than a series of repeated movements, which one would generally need to make a hole like that with a wooden club of some kind.” The Doctor said, thinking out loud as he went. 

“So, one shot clean through, with something wooden, is that even possible?” Ben asked and The Doctor rubbed his chin, “That is the question.” 

Castiel walked through the dining room and opened the kitchen door, “I’m back, I brought extra armor.” Dean followed him out and looked at the group, “Anyone who is coming, come get suited up.”

In the end, Castiel, Dean, The Doctor, Jamie, Kevin, Ben and Benny went to investigate the scene while Sam, John, and Polly stayed at the Inn where the Novak family was invited to prepare for the funeral. 

Benny led them from the path with a lantern in hand, but he didn’t go too deep into the forest before he stopped, “He was right here, just lying there.” Benny pointed to where a splash of blood had soaked into the ground. 

Dean looked around, “Is it just me or does this place look different?”

Cas looked at him for a moment and then looked around, “You’re right. Something is different here.”

Benny lifted a brow, “You guys got that feeling too huh? Thought I was just messed up because of the kid.”

Castiel began to look around the area while The Doctor knelt beside the blood and then looked up and saw a bit more splattered on a tree. “So he must have been standing here when he was stabbed from that direction and the blood sprayed out here; the rest, on the ground, came from after the body fell. So, not only did something punch through him with a wooden weapon in one hit, but it happened while he was standing. Oh my, oh my.” The Doctor looked baffled as he pulled out his handkerchief to cover his mouth as he continued to investigate. 

Kevin noticed something move in the corner of his eye and he turned quickly to search for it with his eyes, Jamie clearly noticed as well and looked in the same direction from nearby. “Did you see what it was?” Kevin asked in a whisper, but Jamie shook his head. 

“No, but it looked big.” 

Ben licked his lips and took out his electric harpoon just in case. Jamie followed in suite and they stayed close to Kevin. 

“Dean, I know what’s missing.” Castiel said, calling him back to the group. 

“What?”

“A tree.”

“What?” Dean asked his eyes going wide, clearly assuming he’d misheard. 

“It was right here.” Castiel stood in an area close to where Samandriel fell. Everyone looked closely at the dark area, but it wasn’t until Benny brought over the lantern that they could see that the earth was disrupted and overturned. 

“How could that have happened?” Kevin asked and Cas answered, “The trees are sentient, they can build things, they can move and bloom or change at will, they just don’t move very often, especially not to this extent, but it’s possible and certainly more likely than anyone actually managing to steal a tree.”

“Maybe the tree saw Samandriel’s death and got scared or something? Do they get scared?” Jamie asked and Dean shrugged. 

“Even if that was the case, why would only one tree leave? Wouldn’t they all run for it?” Ben added and The Doctor gave a hum of thought, “Good point. Unless the tree killed Samandriel.” Everyone looked at him in shocked silence. 

“Hey, I think I found a trail.” Jamie said, catching everyone’s attention. Benny brought the lantern close and Jamie pointed out a deep ditch in the dirt like something heavy slid across it, leaving deep whip like trails at the sides. Jamie took the lantern from Benny and followed it. Dean rushed up to lead with him, with Castiel close behind them. 

The trail continued for a while, twisting around other trees and suddenly started to get smaller and split into two, until there were two deep holes continuing the trail like footprints. 

“You said they can change. Is that what happened?” Ben asked and Castiel shook his head, “I’ve never seen this.” 

“What if the trees heard Naomi talking about selling one of them, they might think they are in danger?” Jamie suggested quietly, looking around at the trees suspiciously. 

“Ok, first I doubt the trees would ever kill anyone, but even if they did, why kill Samandriel and not Naomi?” Dean responded. Kevin noticed then, that the roots were becoming slightly active around them.

“I think it may be best if we return to the Inn. I’m not sure there is much more we can do right now.” The Doctor suggested quietly and Castiel looked at the footprints as they went off deeper into the forest. 

“I swore, I’d find whatever killed him.” Castiel said quietly and Dean moved close, but didn’t touch him, “Cas, you should be there for the funeral. Besides, we don't really know what happened, yet. We need to think this over and get prepared.” 

Cas looked up at him, clearly frustrated, “Alright.” 

With that, they made their way back to the Inn, seeing several more dark shapes move in the forest as they went; the roots of the trees seemed to slither out of their path and dive deep into the earth. 

At the Inn, the Novak family was working with Mary to plan the funeral. Castiel joined them and Dean went back to the kitchen, Kevin was beginning to think that cooking was how Dean dealt with stress. Sam and John were quiet at their place behind the counter while Polly watched sadly from another corner. The group approached her and she managed a small smile, more out of relief than anything else.

“Did you find what did it?”

“Nah, just more questions.” Ben said with a sigh and Polly’s hopeful eyes lost their shine. 

“They are going to handle the funeral today. They don’t really have the means to keep a body from… rotting, apparently.” Polly swallowed hard as she spoke and The Doctor gave her back a comforting pat. 

“I’m going to check the bugs. I’ll see you all in a bit.” Kevin said quietly and made his way upstairs. He was hoping that maybe someone knew something they hadn’t mentioned publically, but he didn’t get anything new. There was no new word on Naomi’s activities and no one had reported any other missing trees to Mary. So far the only real facts they had were that Naomi asked someone to start some new part of her plan, Samandriel was dead, and a tree was missing. He stared at the facts for about a half hour, trying to piece them together, but there was too much missing. 

Later at what Kevin assumed was probably considered sunset, though the sun wasn’t visible, everyone was gathered for the funeral. Samandriel’s body had been treated and placed naked into a decomposing pod that would make it easy for the Novak family tree to gain nutrients from Samandriel’s body. The pod was placed on a cloth stretcher and carried by the family to the tree with the rest of the community behind them. Everyone was dressed in pure white robes and holding small branches from their own family trees.

The Doctor’s group stayed in the back and were given branches from the Campbell tree to carry. Kevin took a few pictures as quietly and discreetly as possible as he followed along with the procession. When they got to the Novak tree, it was dark. All lanterns in the tree had been put out, the hole underneath the roots had already been prepared, and every ice ornament that had been in bloom had been shed to the ground. The tree knew what had been lost today and mourned with the family. The family placed Samandriel into the ground and began to cover him with dirt using their hands. 

Castiel, though no long a part of the tree, insisted on helping. The family sat in the dirt, letting it coat their white robes as they worked. The rest of the community remained quiet, though there were some quiet sobs heard here and there. 

When Samandriel was buried and the hole was filled, the family knelt before their tree and besought it to take Samandriel’s body and use it to make the family stronger. They asked that the tree allow him to forever be a part of them and remain firmly planted in their roots as a guiding, protective and nurturing force. Then the entire community began to sing a haunting song in an ancient language that must have been passed down for generations to even exist. 

As they sang, one by one, the family members and then the rest of the community, laid their pine branches on the mound that now covered Samandriel. Each person would pause their singing just long enough to quietly utter "As we take care of the trees, they take care of us” when they placed their branch, like a small prayer mixed with a goodbye. In the darkness, with the ominous melody in his ears, Kevin continued to see movement out of the corner of his eyes, deep in the forest, but he tried to ignore it. When the last branch had been placed, they finished the song harmonizing on one final note and holding it for several seconds before allowing it to fade to silence. Nearby, Kevin saw families all holding tight together. Mary as with her boys, holding their hands with John close behind her. Ellen and Bobby had Jo sandwiched between them. The Novaks remained by Samandriel’s grave. Even the The Doctor’s group was holding tight together. When Polly noticed him looking, she offered out her hand and without a thought Kevin took it. He was pulled in close and let their warmth shield him from the silence. In that quiet moment he remembered Samandriel’s face, and he promised that he was going to figure this out. If Naomi was involved, he would make sure the world knew what she did. As he felt tears build in his eyes, he felt someone else’s tears drip down onto his cheeks, and all he could do was hold on tighter. 

After the funeral, everyone seemed to fade off in their own direction. Some went to their own family trees or the community tree to meditate or seek comfort, some went home, and others, despite the danger seemed to go to the forest. Kevin stayed at the funeral site for a while longer and then made his way slowly back to the Inn where he found Ben pacing around the lobby in a panic. 

“Ben? Ben calm down, what’s wrong?” 

“She’s gone, mate.” Ben said with wide eyes, grabbing onto Kevin’s arms for support.

“What? Who?”

“Polly. After the funeral there were so many people and everyone was dressed the same and we got separated. I thought she’d come back here, but she hasn’t. Jamie and The Doctor are out looking around and I’ve been asking around here, but no one’s seen her since the ceremony. Kev, what if she…” Ben’s eyes were glassy as he seemed to look through Kevin to some horrible potential future where Polly would be the next body found. Kevin tried not to, but he imagined Polly with the same hole through her chest, her face pale and lifeless and he felt panic start to spread up his spine, but he knew Ben needed support and that grounded him.

“No, Polly’s fine, I’m sure she is. Maybe she just wanted to take a walk or something, it’s been a hard day on everyone. It's not like she's been gone that long right?” Kevin said, clearly trying to convince himself as well as Ben. 

The Doctor and Jamie came in then, both looking defeated. “She wasn’t at the Roadhouse and the hot springs were closed.” Jamie said as he walked over to them. 

Kevin could visibly see the panic in Ben’s face rise, “We have to go and find her. She might be lost in the woods or hurt or-” 

“Now Ben, do calm down, there is a better way to do this. Remember?” The Doctor lifted his arm and tapped the small machine strapped to his wrist, “We were all given GPS tracking devices when we arrived. Times like this are exactly what they were made for.” The Doctor said calmly. 

Kevin felt the panic fade from his body, The Doctor was right, “Good idea Doctor, let’s just go tell Mary we can’t find Polly and she can show us exactly where Polly is. Problem solved.” Ben looked at them hopefully and nodded, “Ok.” 

It took some time, but they found Mary at her family tree with John, Dean, and Sam. The family was huddled in the roots, quietly speaking to the tree. The Doctor cleared his throat, loudly, and they all turned to him. 

“Oh my, forgive me for interrupting, it’s just that, Polly Wright, one of our traveling companions, seems to have gone missing. With what happened to Samandriel, we are, naturally, a bit concerned. We were hoping you could track her through the GPS system for us?”

“Of course we can do that.” Mary said standing, she turned to the tree once more and said some parting words before heading over. 

“Wait, Polly is missing?” Sam asked with worry as he headed over to join them, followed by Dean and their father. 

“Since the funeral, yeah.” Ben explained, “Can we hurry this up, I don’t like the idea of her being out there too long like this.” 

“Of course, come on. John, could you take the boys home?” 

“On it.” John muttered and put his arms around the boys, “Let’s go.”

“Wait, but you might need us.” Dean pointed out and Mary smiled at him, “Then I’ll know where to find you. Go home Dean.” Dean sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. Sam gave Kevin a worried look, but Kevin reassured him with a flash of an assured smile and Sam also allowed himself to be dragged home.

Ben rushed the group along as Mary led them out of the community to the customs area at the foot of the ropeway. “We don’t use this system except in emergencies, so it takes a while to turn on.” Mary explained as she booted the system. Everyone watched as eventually it came to life, showing a map of the community and the surrounding forest. Slowly, various key points were added, like labels of landmarks, and latitude and longitude lines. Finally, several small lights showed up, all in one spot. 

Mary lifted a brow and watched the screen, “That’s strange. If she is still in our boundaries she should be showing up.”

“What does that mean?” Ben asked more roughly than he probably meant to. 

“It means that either her GPS tracking device isn’t working or she has left the territory.”

“How big is your territory?” The Doctor asked and Mary looked over at him, “Several hundred miles in each direction.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School got crazy busy again, so I might be a bit slow on the updates. Sorry~~


	9. Cat o'nine Branches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group goes to look for Polly.

Ben hurriedly strapped his weapons on quickly while Kevin sat on his bed and prepared his camera to take pictures in the depths of the dark forest. 

“Dammit.” Ben swore suddenly as he dropped his knife, jumping back to keep it from his hitting his feet. Kevin looked up at the sound and watched as Ben picked the knife up, his irritation and worry radiating from him in waves 

“Ben, she’s going to be ok, but you need to keep it together. We don’t know what we are going to be facing out there and if you can’t even hold onto your knife-”

“I’m fine.” Ben assured him as he put his hunting knife in place in its holster. “I just don’t get why her GPS wouldn’t be working. She couldn’t have gone far enough to be off grid.”

Kevin could only assume that it had been damaged, but he couldn’t tell Ben that. “Doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we go out there and find her.”

“Yeah. You know, it’s usually me that gets lost or brainwashed or suddenly in Amsterdam on a pirate ship.” Ben said with a laugh that Kevin couldn’t help but see as serious, which once again made him wonder about his strange new friends, but he remained silent as Ben continued, “Pol, though, she can get herself out of anything. I’ve seen her talk her way out of all kinds of stuff and make weapons out of just regular random chemicals. She’s damn persuasive too, she is. She can get just about anyone on her side she wants. ” 

“Then why are you so worried about her?” Kevin asked, hoping to guide Ben into some sort of calm.

“Because what is she gonna do against trees in a giant forest?”

Kevin shoulders sank a bit, “Good point. What are _we_ going to do?”

Ben grinned, “Now that, I have a plan for. Just gotta wait for the Doctor to finish up on his end.”

After they were ready, they went back down to the lobby where John, Dean, Castiel, Benny, Jamie, Bobby, and Jo were waiting in full gear and sitting around as The Doctor and Sam sorted out several bottles at the front desk. 

The Doctor cleared his throat and went in front of the group and held up one of the bottles, “Now, I must reiterate that I do not support this idea, it could lead to infinitely worse problems, and I really think you should reconsider and give me more time to come up with something more appropriate or-“ 

“Doctor, we dinnae have time to wait around, Polly is waiting for us.” Jamie scolded and the Doctor gave a quiet sigh of admittance, looking away as deep worry lines appeared on his face. Or maybe they had always been there and Kevin had never really noticed them before. Either way, Kevin found it a bit unnerving. 

“This mixture is chemically similar to what is used in artificial acid rain…it isn’t as strong, I’m afraid we couldn’t find everything we needed, but it should still be effective. You must be aware however, that this could be fatal to the trees.”

“It’s only a last resort, but if something happens…you won’t be without something to protect you.” Sam added and handed a bottle out to his brother. Dean looked at it for a moment, conflicted, but in the end he took the bottle. 

“Alright, well hopefully we got the wrong idea about all this, but it’s better to be safe than sorry so, everyone grab a bottle and let’s get going.” Dean called out and everyone quickly went to Sam and The Doctor for a bottle. Kevin waited in the back, he would take a bottle if one was left over, but if a fight broke out he didn’t plan to get close enough to a tree to actually use it, so he could be the last priority. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Jamie and Ben went to the Doctor for their bottles. 

“Now Jamie, Ben, do be careful out there. Remember, these are a last resort. Even if one of the trees did kill Samandriel, the others are most likely innocent, so don’t go splashing this stuff around, understand?” 

“Aye, Doctor we’ll be careful not to hurt the trees unless we have to.” Jamie said rolling his eyes as he took a bottle. The Doctor looked at Ben next, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “I’m sure she is just fine, Ben.” 

Ben took his bottle and gave a forced smile, “Yeah, it’s Pol after all, duchess probably took over half the forest by now.” The Doctor nodded, his smile much more genuine than Ben’s. 

“Kevin?” Kevin’s attention was torn away to Sam who was standing in front of him with a worried look, “Are you sure you won’t reconsider, we don’t know what is going on out there, but it’s not safe, you should stay here.”

Kevin gave a coy smile, “I have to, it’s a journalist’s duty to go where the story is, but don’t worry, if I can survive Daleks and Cybermen, I can survive this.” Kevin finished with a wink and Sam smiled in relief as he held out a bottle for Kevin to take. 

Of course, Kevin wasn’t nearly as confident as he let on, but there was no reason to worry Sam; besides he did believe what he had said, it was his duty, he just wasn’t always sure about the survival bit. However, fear is a part of being brave and Kevin always considered himself brave, well, when it came to work. He’d gotten himself into plenty of dangerous situations over the years, but those always gave the best stories and he always managed to make his way out safely, so he pressed on, despite his mother’s protesting. 

Kevin put the bottle in his bag and went outside to meet the others. Dean handed out rations as everyone double checked their gear and then Bobby and John led the group out with Benny and Cas taking the rear. Kevin stayed towards the middle of the group and kept his camera ready as they made their way down the trail to the edge of the village. 

Everyone was quiet as they made their way off the path and into the forest. Even close to the village, Kevin felt like there were less lanterns than usual and definitely less ice ornaments. Something was wrong. He tried to quiet and slow his breathing and lighten his footsteps. He felt like the only one cracking twigs under his feet. 

A quick fluttering off in the distance made Kevin jump and suck in his breath, but he relaxed a bit when he heard Cas mutter quietly about it just being a bird. 

As it got darker, Kevin was sure that something was moving in his peripheral vision, but every time he turned his head to look, there was nothing. He was hyper alert at this point and his blood felt like it was boiling with adrenaline as he waited for something that didn’t seem to come. 

Soon they were in so deep that there were barely any lanterns in the trees. Jo and Dean held their lanterns up high to guide the group across the uneven ground. Everyone moved slowly now, trying to avoid tripping over roots. They heard more movement, but it could have been animals, or Polly, or anything really, so they kept moving. 

“We ain’t gonna find her if we don’t split up and start shoutin’ for her.” Bobby said quietly to John.

“I got a bad feeling about this, Bobby.” 

“You always have a bad feeling.”

“Yeah well, I’m usually right.”

“The hell you are.”

“Dad.” Jo scolded and Bobby heaved a sigh, “Alright, well what do you wanna do?”

“Considering how many trails there are from the funeral, we can’t track her, so all we can do is look around, we might as well at least stay together and stay safe. We don’t need another body.”

“Dad, we’ll be fine if we spread out just a little, we can stay in shouting distance or something.” Dean suggested carefully and Jo nodded, “Yeah and we could pair unexperienced hunters with experienced hunters. It’ll be fine.” 

John looked over at Bobby, which Kevin could only assume was with some sort of judgmental look before turning back to the others, “Alright, fine, but we stay in shouting distance and we pair everyone up accordingly.” 

“Alright, Jo you’re coming with me.” Bobby said and Jo smiled, “I figured.”

“I can take Ben and Kevin.” Castiel suggested and John nodded, “Alright, Jamie you can come with me, Dean you go with Benny. That should make the groups more or less even. Remember don’t go out too far.” 

As the groups split up, extra lanterns were lit so that each group became a small glowing orb of light peaking between the trees. Kevin walked beside Ben who was holding the lantern for Castiel. Soon there were shouts of Polly’s name that elicited more shouts from the other groups effectively making her name echo through the forest. 

Kevin walked close behind Castiel and put on his heat sensor settings for his camera and looked around: suddenly every tiny animal in the area became a little blur of orange and red. The trees, though alive, didn’t give off heat, which made it easier for Kevin to focus on looking for Polly. So far, nothing in the area looked like it could be her though. He saw a few larger animals here and there that could be troublesome if they got too close, but he didn’t see any mire beasts, so that was a plus. 

“Polly?” Ben joined in with the shouting as Castiel suddenly stopped and looked around. 

“What is it?” Kevin asked and Castiel held up his hand to quiet them. Kevin strained his ears to listen for something, but it all sounded like animals and typical forest noises to him. 

“Castiel?” Kevin asked again and Cas shook his head, “Something isn’t right. Can’t you hear that? The ground is being overturned…and there are no roots around here.” 

“What does that mean?” Kevin asked as Castiel took out his electric harpoon. Ben handed the lantern to Kevin, who took it and watched Ben grab his harpoon as well. 

Kevin bit his bottom lip nervously as he looked around with the heat sensor camera, but he didn’t see anything nearby. 

Then suddenly Kevin could hear it. It was quiet, like a snake in tall grass, just barely audible slithering, but there was cracking too, like wood in a fireplace. The sound was getting closer and then Kevin felt shaking, but he couldn’t tell if it was him or the ground. “Castiel?” Kevin asked and Cas looked around, his eyes squinted and focused. 

They watched and waited, looking around, and back again, then a woman’s scream was heard. 

“Polly?” Ben turned towards the noise and then, from the ground, roots shot up through the earth’s surface and stabbed at Castiel, who rolled to the side with reflexes so quick Kevin couldn’t even register what had just happened. More roots shot up from the ground and wound tightly around Kevin’s legs, throwing him off balance to the ground. The grip was intense, like it was trying to squeeze his legs into pieces. Ben got his bottle from his pocket and sprayed some of the water at the roots and instantly they retracted and went back into the ground.

“MOVE.” Castiel shouted as he got back up. Kevin jumped up and got behind Castiel as the ground began to tremble again. 

The roots surged from the ground, partially rotted and shaking from the acid, but they whipped forward, lashing at the group. Castiel and Ben stabbed at them with their harpoons while Kevin took pictures, backing up a bit, but he had apparently gone too far, because several branches slashed against his back like a cat o'nine tails, tearing at his leather armor and knocking him forward. Kevin felt the air jump from his lungs when he hit the ground, but he pushed himself to his feet, only to be knocked back down by the branches as they whipped across his back again. 

Ben looked back and noticed Kevin under attack and rushed towards him, splashing the branches with the acid. Kevin looked over towards Castiel, where he had some of the roots pinned with his electric harpoon. The electricity wasn’t doing anything, which made sense since wood didn’t conduct electricity, but at least they were stuck in place. 

“Retreat!” A loud, deep voice thundered from elsewhere in the forest.

Kevin tried to take pictures of the roots thrashing violently from where they were trapped, but Ben grabbed his arm. “Forget the damn pictures, mate, come on!” 

Castiel left his harpoon and pulled out his hunting knife and led them towards where the voice had shouted. Kevin saw the other lights in the distance, some had been abandoned, and others were swaying violently as the hunters fought their way to their companions. 

As the group ran, another root sprung upwards and tripped Kevin, knocking Ben over as well and making him drop the lantern. Kevin heard the glass shatter like it was right next to his face making his face tense. Before he could even open his eyes, he felt roots spiraling up his leg to his thigh. Kevin panicked and tried to pry the roots off, but they just tightened their grip and started to pull him across the ground. Kevin curled in on his camera, screaming as he kicked wildly against the roots as they dragged him along the uneven ground, smacking his head into rocks and other roots. Then he saw a silver blur shoot across his vision and the roots stopped moving and loosened their grip. He frantically pushed the roots off and scooted back as quickly as he could; finally, his eyes settled on the knife sticking out of the roots, pinning them in place. Kevin looked back to where Castiel was standing, empty handed with Ben at his side, holding the broken lantern. “Come on, Kev.” Ben shouted and Kevin finally regained control of his body; he jumped up and sprinted back to them. They ran towards the nearest lantern and found Benny and Dean. 

 

“Cas, thank the gods, we have to get out of here.” Dean shouted, behind him Benny had a splatter of red dripping from his side.

“You lead them back, I’m going to help the others.” Cas said as he grabbed Dean’s knife from his thigh holster. 

“Baby, no.” Dean pleaded, but Cas just kissed his cheek and ran off towards the next lantern. 

“Cas, dammit.” Dean shouted, but when they heard the earth begin to rumble again, Dean’s eyes went wide. “Ok, let’s go, move it.” 

Kevin didn’t question him, he just ran through the darkness, hearing the ground tear apart behind him and having to dodge the branches that were trying to slap him to the ground. He felt his mouth fill with hot saliva, his breathing was erratic and his legs and stomach were stinging with exhaustion. But all he could do was keep Dean’s back in his vision. 

Suddenly, Benny fell to the ground. The group stopped and looked back in time to see a large branch stab down with incredible force. “Benny!” Dean shouted and Kevin shut his eyes. 

When he didn’t hear a scream, he slowly opened them and saw a large wall of branches behind Benny and several roots helping him to his feet. Dean’s eyes were wide with gratitude and confusion, but he just ran forward to Benny and helped support him. “You ok?”

“Yeah, brother, let’s get out of here.”

They started running, slowly this time, and every attack that came their way was blocked by other trees, roots pointed their way home and cleared from their path while branches built temporary walls behind them and at their sides to keep them safe. As they neared the village, they saw a huge wall of branches ahead of them, blocking the village path. 

Ben grabbed his bottle and prepared to throw as he ran, but as they approached the wall, it opened just enough to let them through and shut quickly behind them. Benny collapsed on the path, holding his now heavily bleeding side and Dean looked back at the wall, his eyes glassy with worry. Kevin collapsed on the ground next to Benny and gasped for air while Ben held his bottle close at the ready. 

By the time Kevin’s breathing had slightly slowed and he managed to sit up, Dean had already recovered, “Can you guys take Benny to the village? I need to go out there and help.” Kevin looked around to try and place where he was, they were on the path, but they were still clearly far from the village and Benny was barely conscious. There was no way Ben and Kevin would be able to get him back to the village and defend themselves if they were attacked again. 

“Dean, we need you.” Kevin said quietly and Ben nodded, “Look mate, I know how you feel, I want to go in there and find Polly and Jamie, but we can barely handle all that in there and Benny needs to get back to the village or he’s gonna bleed out.” 

Dean looked at Benny then back to the wall, “Ok…yeah, you’re right. We have to do what we can right now and that’s to help Benny.” He put his hand on the wall gently, “Please, protect them. Bring them home.” Kevin almost expected the wall to answer, but it didn’t budge and Dean turned to help Benny up, this time needing Ben to help as well. Kevin took a picture of the wall and then followed close behind the others as they walked up the path. 

When they reached the village, they found the entire place surrounded by wooden walls, protected from the dark lurching movement of the forest; from the forest, they could hear the sound of branches snapping against one another and whole trees tearing their roots from the earth. They made their way through the quiet village to the clinic. “Raphael?!” Dean shouted at the door, pounding on the door with his fist. “Raph?! Dammit where is he?” 

Kevin looked around, the streets were empty, “They must have gone somewhere for safety or something right?”

Dean hummed thinking about it, “Maybe mom gathered everyone together at the meeting hall.”

“I can go check, you guys should stay here, Benny could probably use a rest, eh?” Ben suggested and Dean nodded. Kevin felt a wave of anxiety tug at his throat, tightening it. He didn’t want Ben to go, but he was right, Benny was getting pale, he needed to sit down. 

“Thanks.” Dean replied and Ben gave Kevin a nod before running off. Dean looked at Benny, “Ok buddy, we gotta take a look at this. I got some water, I can wash it off at least.” 

Benny nodded weakly and slumped against the door of the clinic as Dean took a knife and cut at the hole in Benny's blood soaked armor. Kevin knelt beside them and watched as the wound was revealed more clearly; Benny had been stabbed clean through the side, it looked like a smaller version of the wound that killed Samandriel: rough edged and littered with splinters. Kevin felt himself get nauseous again, so he looked away as Dean poured water on the wound, but he accidentally looked back just in time to see the bloody water run down Benny’s side. 

Kevin’s wince accompanied Benny’s soft groan. He needed to do something, he needed away from there or he was going to throw up. “Do you have first aid supplies at the Inn? I could go get them.” Kevin offered and Dean looked over at him, but Kevin couldn’t meet his eyes. 

“Yeah, in the kitchen, should be in a box under the sink. You sure?”

Kevin nodded, “We seem safe enough in here, besides it’s not that far.” 

Dean looked towards the Inn and then down at Benny, “Ok, yeah, thanks man.” 

Kevin ran off towards the Inn, he could feel the earth thrumming under his feet. The sound from beyond the wall was getting louder, the aggressive trees were getting closer, or maybe there were more of them now? Kevin had no idea what was happening, but as he neared the Inn, he saw John, Bobby, Jo, Castiel, and Jamie coming into town. 

“Jamie!” Kevin shouted in relief and ran towards them. 

“Where is Dean?” Castiel asked pushing his way close to Kevin, his eyes wide with worry. Kevin put his hands up, “Dean’s fine, Benny isn’t doing so good though and Raphael wasn’t in his clinic, so I am going to get the first aid kit from the Inn.”

“Mary must have gathered everyone to keep them from panicking.” John said and Bobby wiped some sweat from his brow, “I don’t think anything is going to keep people from panicking at this point.” 

“I’ll go with Kevin, the rest of you should go to the meeting hall. Everyone needs to know what happened out there and the people will need defended if something happens.” Cas suggested and John clapped a hand on his shoulder, “Good idea, son, here, just in case.” John handed a small simple brass key to Castiel. 

Jamie looked at Kevin, “Have you seen the Doctor? Is Ben alright?”

“Ben is fine, he went to the meeting hall to get Raphael, the Doctor is probably there too.”

“Thanks. Ye stay safe, alright?” Kevin nodded and watched as the group headed off for the meeting hall. They all looked exhausted and there was some blood splatter, but they were all running, so that was something. Kevin was ready for any small victory at this point. 

“Come on.” Castiel said, getting his attention and led him to the Inn. The Inn was quiet and all of the lights were out, even the fire in the lobby. Kevin had never seen it like this, it was eerie. He followed Castiel through the dinner room and into the kitchen. With each footstep he could feel vibrations from the ground and he was sure he could hear wood crackling. 

Castiel ducked under the sink to look for the first aid kit and Kevin grabbed a couple of water bottles and hand towels, just in case. As they worked, the vibrations got more drastic and then suddenly the whole place began to shake violently, like in an earthquake. Kevin was thrown into a counter and Cas swore as he hit his head under the sink. 

Kevin dropped several water bottles as he held onto the counter, some of them rolled over his feet as the place shook back and forth. The sound of creaking wood was everywhere now. “What’s happening?!” Kevin shouted and Castiel managed to pull himself up, with the first aid kit in hand, “I don’t know, but we have to get out of here.” Kevin nodded and they both carefully made their way out of the kitchen, desperately clinging to counters and walls as they went. 

Kevin was close behind Castiel when he opened the door to the lobby, and suddenly it all made sense. The tree that held the Inn up was pulling away and the ceiling was collapsing. 

“Quick, move, run!” Castiel commanded as he pulled Kevin by the arm, their steps were uneven and shaky as above them, the tree slowly tore itself free from the inn. Kevin held his breath as they ran forward, branches thrashing violently as the tree struggled to untangle itself from the Inn. 

Several branches swung between them and the door, and Castiel pulled out his bottle of acid and sprayed it gratuitously. The tree flailed harder as the branches began to crumble in front of them. Cas grabbed Kevin again and pulled him through the branches. They pushed their way out the door and looked back to watch as the Inn continued to collapse in on itself. 

Castiel watched in disbelief for a moment then looked at Kevin, “Let’s go.” 

They ran back to the clinic and found the door open. Raphael was working on Benny, while on the other side of the clinic, Amelia sat breathing hard with Dean holding her hand.

Cas ran over to them, “Please tell me you’re both alright.”

“I don’t know, I feel like I’m having contractions, but it’s too early, I can’t have her yet.” Amelia said through tears and Cas knelt beside her, taking her other hand. 

Kevin looked around, there wasn’t much else he could do here, he needed to find his friends and he needed to find out the plan. 

Without a word, Kevin ran out of the clinic, his body was exhausted, but adrenaline kept him moving forward. He could hear the walls being assaulted now, probably from both sides now that the tree from the Inn was loose. He tried not to imagine it and kept his eyes focused as he raced down the path. 

Whatever peaceful meeting he was expecting, however, wasn’t happening. The tree from behind the city hall was on fire and swinging it’s branches wildly at the hunters while Mary shouted to the people, “Gather what supplies you can and get to the food storage unit, only necessary supplies, food, water, warm clothes, blankets, medicine, take only what you can carry in one small bag and go to the food storage supply.” She repeated the message over and over as people rushed in all directions. 

Kevin spotted the Doctor by Mary’s side and ran over to him, “Doctor? What’s happening?”

“I’m not sure, but something has caused some of the trees to become violent. Other trees have been protecting the village, but no one is sure how much longer they can hold out. Mary contacted the other communities, but no one else is reporting any problems and many of the leaders seemed to think this was nothing but a rather tasteless joke.”

“So what do we do?”

“Mary plans to set everyone up in the food storage units, everything else in the village is made of wood or glass, so unfortunately they don’t have much choice. From there, she plans to send for help from the other communities and use the shuttle to take small groups out of the area.”

“Can people stay in the storage units that long? It’d be like staying in a freezer right?”

“We’ve already adjusted the temperature, it will be cold, but everyone should be fine. I’m mostly worried about this fire, an uncontrolled fire could destroy this entire planet. I told them, but once a mob is afraid, it cannot make rational decisions.” 

As if on cue, the blazing tree fell backwards onto the wall. The flames spread and the trees that had created the wall began to flail their limbs as well and in the flurry of green, the branches above parted and a bright beam of light shed down on the village of eternal shade. 

Screams filled the air as everyone covered their eyes. Kevin found himself huddled against the Doctor as he let his eyes readjust behind closed lids. The earth was shaking and he could hear the trees moving closer. When he managed to open his eyes, he saw the Novak family tree push and pull trees away from the wall with its mess of branches, quickly try to rebuild the wall at the same time, but it looked like a losing battle. 

Ben and Jamie ran back to Kevin and the Doctor. “Doctor, we need to get out of here.” Jamie urged and Ben nodded, clearly exhausted. 

Kevin watched as the hunters tried to support the Novak tree and fight the city hall tree. Things seemed to slow in the midst of chaos, Kevin looked at the faces of those running to their homes. They didn’t just look afraid, they looked hopeless and broken. The trees that they tended, that they loved and believed in, their protectors had turned on them. The tree of their village, one that had heard their prayers and worries was now raining fire and light down on their village, tearing it apart. The air no longer smelled like the clean forest, it smelled of ash and blood. There were bodies mixed in with the debris and many people looked injured as they struggled to get home. Without much thought, Kevin took a few pictures, his brain couldn't process the scene yet, but the camera could at least. 

“Kevin!” Ben shouted and Kevin looked over at him, “Come on, mate, we are gonna regroup at the food storage unit.” 

Kevin nodded his understanding, at this point he didn’t even know what to say about anything. The symbiotic relationship of nature and people, the simple beauty that made this place so romantic was being pulled apart all around him. The sun above sat witness to their destruction. 

He ran with them down the path, dodging people, and trying to keep balanced as the earth shook beneath him. 

“Doctor! Wait! Ben, Jamie, Kevin!” A familiar voice shouted over the cacophony of screams and they all stopped and searched through the smoke and chaos until their eyes landed on a welcome sight. 

“No…” Jamie said in disbelief as he leaned close against the Doctor, taking his arm. 

“Duchess?” Ben asked quietly, afraid to be wrong, but there she was walking out of the smoke like a vision. Polly’s clothes and face were dirty and her hair was tied tight behind her, but she wasn’t hurt. 

Polly rushed up to the group, “Sorry I disappeared for a while there, but I know what’s happening here.” She looked over at Ben with sympathy, “Ben I know you won’t believe this, but Anna did this. You have to trust me.” 

“Pol, of course I trust you. I barely know Anna, I know you, if you say she did this, she did it. I'm just glad you're ok.” Polly’s face melted soft and seemed to beam, and for one moment the disaster around them disappeared. Kevin wasn’t sure what the look was, but it was beautiful and Ben seemed to reflect it back at her. 

“So? Are ye gonna tell us what happened or just stan’ there?” Jamie scolded and Polly looked over at him then to the Doctor, “After the funeral, I saw her wander into the woods and I was worried about her, so I followed her. Then I noticed she was talking to someone on her communicator about a plan and I got suspicious. I followed her to an underground lab out in the forest where there were scientists working on a poison that makes the trees lose their minds and go violent.”

“Ye don- say.” Jamie said rolling his eyes and Polly gave him a look that made him instantly go still, “Sorry.”

“Right, well-“

A giant tree fell over onto a building nearby making the ground jump beneath them. “Great story and all Pol, but could you hurry it up? Skip to the important stuff maybe?” Ben asked as his eyes scanned the area with worry.

“Ok, basically, Anna is one of Naomi’s agents and Naomi told her to poison a couple trees to show the community that they need to move away from reliance on the trees and take their place as the dominant species on the planet.”

“Ah, so she could convince the people to sell the poisoned trees, no doubt.” The Doctor added, understanding sparking in his eyes. 

“Right, but I heard them arguing over the communicator. Anna said that they should poison more than just a few. She wants off the planet.”

“So she’s gonna destroy everything to leave? Couldn’t she hide on one of the tourist ships and leave by herself if she wanted off so badly? Why does she have to do something like this?” Jamie interrupted, his clutch on the Doctor’s arm tightening.

“Perhaps she hoped that everyone would have to leave if she created a big enough disaster; abandoning their planet would be the only way to survive, after all.” The Doctor contemplated aloud.

“That makes sense, Anna would talk about how she felt trapped having to do what her mother did. She’d complain about how they lived a lot too. Sayin’ that everything we had must be nice and all.” Ben added. 

Kevin thought he understood what she must have been feeling. The people here lived very strict lives, they lived for the community instead of themselves and they went without so many things just to keep their planet livable. It had to be frustrating to some people, especially those who worked so closely with tourists and got hear about how much better life could be. Then again, even though Sam wanted to explore, he would never betray his friends and family. Family...

“She didn’t poison her family tree.” Kevin said quietly and everyone looked at him. “I think the Doctor’s right, she wants off and she wants everyone else to go too. She might even have a plan to get everyone to safety.”

“So, what do we do then? We cannae just wait and hope things turn out.” Jamie asked the Doctor, still holding tight to his arm.

“Well, I think we had better go regroup with the others first…but I may just have a plan to fix all of this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a couple more chapters to go!


	10. Scorched and Crackling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor's plan is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well in the effort to try and get this story done by March, I actually managed to get another chapter done!

The entire community, well everyone but Anna of course, was gathered in the food storage unit; it was tight and cold, but for now they were safe. The entire unit was underground and reinforced, so no roots or branches would be able to break in. Although, if the noises were to be judged, it wasn’t from a lack of trying. In the corner of the unit, Amelia was in early stages of labor, despite Raphael’s attempts to stop it. Benny was in another corner resting, but healing. 

Cas’s family was together in another corner, talking about Anna in complete shock and disbelief over her actions. Amara was filled with rage at the thought of her niece being responsible for her youngest son’s death and now the destruction of their home. Chuck felt responsible for his daughter’s actions and Castiel still couldn’t believe his beloved sister was involved. Balthazar tried to make light of it, saying it was because of her red hair and Gabriel joked that he always knew she was a little hurricane waiting to happen while Hannah and Michael tried to keep them in line. Ambriel had chosen to stay huddled with her adopted family, for what Kevin assumed was shame, though he supposed it could have been for comfort too. Everywhere he looked, people were disheveled, injured, exhausted, and pale with fear and loss.

Most citizens sat quietly sharing blankets, huddling together for warmth as they listened to Mary and the Doctor talk in the middle of the room. 

“So Doctor? You said you had a possible solution?” Mary asked, clearly worn down, but never faltering. Kevin noted how strong Mary was, she truly had been a pillar holding up the community in the middle of this chaos, guiding people to where they needed to be and making sure everyone got what they needed. He couldn’t help but think she would get along well with his own mother. 

The Doctor cleared his throat and folded his hands together briefly before wringing them a few times as he spoke, “Ah, yes, well, I believe, if your hunters could get me a sample from one of the poisoned trees, I could make an antidote to counteract the poison. It would be difficult, I would need a laboratory and some time to work, but I believe that it can be done.”

“Even if you did make an antidote, how will you administer it to all the poisoned trees?” Mary asked and there were quiet murmurs of agreement from around the room. 

“Well, I was thinking, we could use your weather control machines. Perhaps add it to the rain?” 

“How ironic.” Sam said quietly and Kevin looked over at him questioningly from where he sat huddled close to Jamie, sharing a blanket. 

“They say the trees came here to escape acid rain and now they might be healed with a different kind of rain. I think it’s a great plan.” 

Dean shook his head, “Such a nerd.” 

“Shut up, jerk, and stop hogging the blanket.” Sam elbowed him and tugged at the blanket, but it was clearly too small for the two giants to share. Kevin was suddenly very grateful for not having a sibling, and also for getting to share a blanket with someone who had no respect for personal space, like Jamie. Their sides were flush together and they both managed to get the blanket all the way around their legs, not that it helped much, Kevin still felt the cold settle in his bones and his breath came out like puffs of smoke. 

Mary looked down at her sons with a fond annoyance and then up to the Doctor, “You really think you can do this?”

“Yes, of course. I will need a lot of support, of course, but I believe this can be done.” 

Mary thought quietly for a moment, “Alright, we’ll do this like we do everything, we’ll take a vote. This decision could save us or kill us and we all have a right to voice our opinions. Right now, if I’m being honest, we don’t have many options. The other communities aren’t sending help. We could try to contact them again, but even if they did come, there isn’t much they can do outside of shuttle us out of here. It would take days for them to shuttle everyone off to other communities and for every group that left, we would still have to fight our way out to the landing platform. We could lose a lot of people that way, we would probably all be scattered throughout the different communities, and ultimately the problem still wouldn’t be solved. If we follow the Doctor’s plan, it will still be dangerous and people could get killed, but we would have a chance to not only survive this, but to retake our home and save our trees from whatever horrible poison Anna has subjected them to. My recommendation is that we give the Doctor’s plan a chance and if that fails, we rely on the other communities to come for us.”

The room went quiet while people considered their options, but it was quickly broken by Amelia’s pained moans. The Doctor looked in her direction, “Oh my word, I had best help out. You don’t mind do you Raphael?” Raphael gave him a look like he was crazy and the Doctor nodded, “I thought not, Mary, I leave this to you and your community, but please have a bit of faith, I truly believe that together we can overcome this.” The Doctor gave a warm smile before making his way to Raphael and Amelia. Cas made his way over as well at that point, but Amelia waved him off. 

“Don’t, please, Cas. I don’t want you to see me lose her.” Amelia said in between sobs and he went back to his family silently, his face struck with anxious fear. 

“This can’t be comfortable at all can it, Amelia. Perhaps we can make a curtain and get you some privacy…” The Doctor started and instantly Dean stood up, pulling the blanket from him and Sam and offered it. “Ah, yes, this will do just fine, I think. Thank you Dean.”

“Doctor?” Dean called as The Doctor began looking around for a way to hang the blanket.

“Yes?”

“Save my baby girl, please.” 

The Doctor looked at him for a moment, his eyes shined brilliantly with an assuring light and for that moment, Kevin honestly believed the Doctor could do anything. “I’ll do my best, Dean.” 

Dean watched helplessly as the Doctor created his makeshift curtain. Cas walked up to Dean and put a gentle arm on his shoulder and Dean leaned into the touch, putting his hand over Cas’s. At that point Polly got up from her place where she was sharing a blanket with Ben, “Doctor, do you need any more help? Maybe I can help keep Amelia comfortable?”

From behind the curtain the doctor could be heard, “Ah, that sounds lovely, what do you think Amelia?” 

Amelia gave her answer in the middle of another pained scream, “Ok.” 

Polly immediately headed towards the curtain, but stopped short when Ben called to her, “Duchess, wait, take the blanket,” Ben said as he got up and quickly took the blanket off, but Polly shook her head, “Thanks Ben, but I’ll need my hands free.” 

“Ok…good luck then.” 

Polly gave him a curious smile and went behind the curtain. Dean winced when Amelia’s next groan came. “Mom, I’ll do it. Screw the vote, I need out of here, I’ll go get the sample.”

"You aren’t going alone.” Cas said by his side, Dean nodded and pulled Cas’s hand into his own.”

“I’ll go too. We can’t just sit here.” Jamie said jumping up, tossing the blanket down as he did so, leaving Kevin’s right side cold and empty. Dean looked at Jamie gratefully.

Mary looked around and soon there were many people standing, Michael, Gabriel, Sam, Jo, Ellen, Ben, Amara, Bobby, John, and a series of faces Kevin had seen but didn’t know by name. 

“I think we have our answer then…” Mary said quietly. 

“A root would be preferable, but a branch or bark could work too. The poison is likely coursing through the entire tree.” The Doctor called out from behind the curtain. 

“Dinnae ye worry Doctor, we are gonna get that sample, you just focus on that baby.” Jamie said with a proud, confident smile. 

“I shall do just that then, be careful Jamie.”

“You too Ben, don’t get cocky.” Polly added. 

Everyone went to their loved ones to say goodbye, just in case things went poorly in the field. Kevin watched as Mary held her boys and husband close, desperately praying for their safety, and giving them each a kiss on the forehead. Chuck held his three brave boys tightly while Hannah tried to talk them out of going. Ben and Jamie spoke to Polly and The Doctor from the other side of the curtain. Everyone else, was huddling tightly under their blankets, silent and shaking in the cold.

Another pained groan echoed through the room and Kevin felt his body tighten. Outside the unit, the village was burning and being smashed to the ground as the trees battled their brothers. Inside, people sat clinging to life, slowly freezing as they listened to the sound of what was more than likely going to be the failed birth of a premature infant. Kevin wrapped his blanket around himself tightly and longed for his mother and home. 

He looked over to Sam, the man was in armor now, like most able bodied men and women in the unit, but despite his size, Sam was the only one it looked truly odd on. Sam wasn’t a hunter, he hated killing things, but he was going to do this for his family and community. This was just another example of how he would gladly give everything for them. Images of Sam stabbed through or strangled in roots filled his head and he felt tears build in his eyes, the very idea of Sam dying hurt deep in his chest. Sam should be at a desk or in front of the fire, reading or writing, with a cup of his disgusting tea and a comfortable blanket. Warm, safe, happy, and free. Not going out to die for a mere chance at saving the community. 

“Sam?” Kevin said quietly, standing up before he knew what he was doing. 

Sam looked down at Kevin, parting from his family as Mary held her husband tight and Dean and Cas checked each other’s equipment, “Kevin, how are you holding up?”

“Alright, I suppose. What about you?”

Sam shrugged, “No idea. It hasn’t all really registered yet. I still feel like I’m going to walk out there and everything will just look like it’s always looked.”

Kevin bit his lip and looked down and murmured under his breath, “Don’t go.”

“What?” Sam asked, not hearing him and Kevin looked up at him, “Don’t go. You’ll die.” 

“Thanks for the confidence.” Sam teased, though his eyes weren’t joining his smile. 

“No, I’m serious. Leave this to the hunters, stay here.”

Sam moved close and put his large hand on Kevin’s shoulder, “I’ll be ok. My family will be out there with me. We are just getting a sample and coming back. I promise, we’ll be back before you notice we’re even gone.”

Kevin shook his head, the tears webbing down his cheeks now and Sam pulled him into a hug, “Hey, it’s going to be fine.”

Kevin couldn’t move, trapped in his blanket, but he leaned into the embrace. Even through the armor, he was sure he could hear Sam’s heart beating, though if it was beating that hard, Sam was clearly worried too. Kevin buried his face against Sam’s chest trying to hear it and memorize its rhythm, when suddenly Sam ran his hand gently along the back of Kevin’s head, tangling his fingers lightly in his hair, sending goosebumps fluttering up his back. 

Kevin looked up and Sam smiled down at him, his sunflower, nebula eyes were bright as ever; this smile was genuine and it was beautiful. With a quiet subconscious whine, Kevin pushed Sam away, just enough to get his arms out of the blanket, reached up, and pulled Sam’s face down close enough to kiss. 

Kevin could somewhat pick up on the gasps, whispers, and teasing from the others in the room, but for the most part everything was all Sam and his soft, large mouth that seemed to consume Kevin’s. 

Sam wrapped his arms around Kevin’s waist and lifted him off the ground for ease and Kevin moved his arms around Sam’s shoulders tightly, resisting the urge to hold on with his legs as well. Kevin lost himself in Sam’s strong arms and plush lips and Sam woke him up as he nibbled gently on Kevin’s bottom lip playfully; Kevin gave a quiet moan making Sam snicker into the kiss. They shared a couple more chaste kisses, trying to wean themselves off of one another, and finally Sam pulled away enough to let his forehead rest against Kevin’s for a moment. In that still moment, they shared air, space, and comfortable silence, and even if only for a split second, Kevin felt home, safe, and far away from this mess. But just as he relaxed, Sam lowered him back down to the ground. They looked at each other and finally Kevin came to his senses enough to speak, “Come back and you can have another one, you know, if you want.” 

“I want.” Sam said with a small laugh and Kevin couldn’t keep himself from smiling too.

“You all done?” Dean teased, only to get elbowed by his husband, “Hey, he gives us shit all the time.”

Cas gave a stern look and Dean rolled his eyes, “Fine, fine.”

“Make sure you stay in contact with one another, if someone gets a sample, everyone needs to come back immediately.” Mary reminded them at the door. 

“We got it, mom.” Dean said and Mary smiled at him, “You had better.” With that she opened the door just wide enough for John to look out. When he was sure it was clear, he headed out and the others followed one at a time. On his way out Jamie nodded to Kevin, Ben saluted with two fingers and Sam gave him a knowing grin. Kevin stood until the door was shut again and then sank to the floor. 

Now he was left with nothing but the cold, Amelia’s cries, and Mary’s worried looks. The minutes dragged on and everyone seemed to be holding their breath. But time kept pressing forward and they didn’t come back. Mary eventually called Ash to her side and they spoke about plans to get a group to the weather control center. Kevin drown it out after a while and checked his camera, everything looked functional, but he wasn’t ready to look at the pictures from the attack in the forest yet. Instead he pulled out his tablet and opened his video call software, his mom wasn’t online. 

His finger hovered over her icon and he swallowed hard as he pressed it. If nothing else, he could at least leave her a message. It rang a couple times and went to the mailbox message. His mom appeared on the screen with a faked awkward smile, “Sorry, guess you missed me, leave me a message though and I’ll get back to you when I can.” Just hearing her voice made Kevin’s throat tighten as if tears were gathering there in wait. 

When the message beeped he forced a smile, “Hi mom, some things happened, like they do, and I uh just wanted to tell you about them. I kissed Sam. That was pretty great. A couple times actually. Guess I’ll have to show you a picture of him after all. I uh, made some friends too. Really great ones.” Tears started to slide down his cheeks and he quickly pushed them aside, “And uhm, I just really miss you. That’s it. I love you. Call you again when I can.” Kevin hung up and finally let the tears come. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t stop crying, he had never been this scared when on a battlefield before. Usually he was on the front line taking pictures. But most of the time, he never really thought he had anything to lose. Sure he could have died, but Kevin always believed he’d make it through alright. So goes the confidence of youth. But now? He didn’t want to lose Sam, or his new friends, or Sam’s family, or any of these people and he felt helpless. 

Kevin heard the Doctor and Polly encouraging Amelia to push now. Amelia’s groans were merging into truly horrifying screams, but they were still choked with sobs. Kevin buried his head against his knees and covered his ears, but he could still hear her. The scream deepened and he heard the Doctor, “You’re almost there Amelia, keep going, that’s right, push and breath.” 

“You can do this Amelia.” Polly added. 

Amelia screamed and cried harder. 

“Push.” Raphael commanded and Kevin shook his head against his knees. Under his breath he muttered a mantra of ‘Please let her be ok. Please. Let her live. Please.’ 

Then it went silent and Kevin felt his heart sink in his chest. 

“Is she…” Polly asked and the Doctor cleared his throat, “Well, let’s take a look here.” There were a couple soft pats and then from nowhere burst a powerful high pitched scream and Kevin looked over at the curtain with everyone else in the room as Amelia started laughing in pure relief. 

“Little baby Claire is quite the fighter already I see.” The Doctor said and the entire room burst with cheers and laughter. If nothing else, there was this big victory. 

Polly came out first and sat beside Kevin, where he instantly wrapped her into the blanket with him. She looked at him gratefully and rested her head on his shoulder, “I think Amelia broke my fingers.” Polly whispered and Kevin’s smile got impossibly wider. 

“So she’s ok?”

“Yeah, she was a bit early, so she’s a little small, but she’s going to be just fine. She’s so beautiful, Cas and Dean are going to be so happy when they see her.”

Kevin nodded putting his arm around Polly, “I’m sure they’ll be back soon.”

“Yeah. It’s better if it takes a while, it means they are actually bothering to make a plan rather than just run head first into battle.” 

“I didn’t think about it that way.”

Polly smiled and began to doze off. Kevin had no idea what time it was or how long they had been in the unit. After a while, Mary and Hannah passed out dinner to everyone and eventually the curtain was opened so everyone could meet baby Claire. Chuck took Claire so Amelia could rest and so he could personally take her to each person and introduce his first granddaughter, starting of course with Mary who was just as eager to meet her, even if she was a bit distracted. 

Kevin looked at Claire in wonder, here she was born in disaster, born too early, but here and ready to fight just like her fathers. She looked so delicate and her digits were so small, but she smiled and clung to people’s fingers with an incredible grip. 

As time went on, more people went to sleep and Mary turned some of the lights off to make it a little easier for people to rest, but she stayed vigilant. Kevin felt his own body get tired, but he fought it, he had to stay awake for when the hunters got back. He needed to know they were safe. Polly, however, slept easy, curled up in a ball beside him, and the Doctor kept an eye on Amelia so Raphael could rest. 

Finally, after what felt like hours, there was a knock on the door. Mary jumped up and ran to it and those who were still awake watched eagerly. She opened the door cautiously, and Bobby pushed his way in first with his arms full of blankets, “We got your sample, grabbed some other stuff too.” 

“I told you to come right back!” Mary scolded as she watched the hunters come back in one at a time. John gave a quiet apology and leaned in for a quick kiss on his way in and with that Mary’s irritation seemed to dissipate. Most of the hunters were carrying blankets or medicine, some were carrying food or weapons and spare armor. They looked exhausted, but safe. The worse wound Kevin noticed was a deep gash across Jo’s cheek. Now filled with relief, Kevin’s body felt ready to give in to exhaustion and he found himself nodding off. 

Mary turned the lights on and everyone who had been sleeping woke up with unhappy whines as the hunters put the boxes down in empty spaces and moved into the room. Polly stirred at Kevin’s side and smiled, still half asleep, when she saw Ben and Jamie helping to arrange the new supplies. 

Sam set his medical supplies down, made his way over to Kevin, and quickly knelt down beside him with a wide grin, “I told you I’d make it back.” 

Kevin was too tired to respond, so instead he just pulled Sam in for a slow sleepy kiss, but it was quickly interrupted when they head Dean’s broken whisper, “Is that? She’s so beautiful, give her here, that’s right, come here Claire-bear, come to papa. You really chose a hell of a day to show up sweetheart, but we are so glad you’re here.” 

Kevin watched as Sam’s eyes widened when he saw the tiny baby in Dean’s arms. Cas was bending over to kiss her smooth head while he wrapped his arm protectively around Dean.

“My niece, she made it.” Sam whispered more to himself than anyone else and Kevin gave his back a gentle pat, urging him to go to her. 

Sam got up quickly and went over along with John and many of the other hunters. Jo whined as Raphael pulled her away from the baby, “It’s not fair, I wanna hold her.” 

“You can once you get stitched up.” He said, dragging her towards where Benny was resting. 

“She’s a real beauty, eh Jamie?” Ben said grinning down at the baby.

“Aye, such a wee thing too.” 

Dean shared a proud ecstatic smile with Jamie as if silently saying ‘right?’ By the way Dean looked at her, he clearly hadn’t believed his daughter would make it, but Kevin wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anyone as ecstatically happy as Dean was in that moment. Cas on the other hand seemed to be in a blissful calm. Kevin sneaked a few flash free pictures and hoped they would turn out in the pale light of the storage unit. 

After peaking at the baby and congratulating the boys, Jamie and Ben went to the Doctor with the sample; Polly and Kevin joined them. 

The sample was a long wild bouquet of tangled roots.

The group watched as the Doctor inspected them with a small magnifying lens from his endless seeming pockets, “Ah yes, these will be perfect, I think.”

Jamie and Ben grinned with pride as the Doctor continued to look the roots over, “Yes, perfect. Hm, now I just need a lab.”

“We’ll probably have to wait for tomorrow, the hunters are going to need to rest first.” Polly added and the Doctor nodded, “Yes, excellent point. I believe Mary and I will need to make some arrangements as well. I had best go do that, here Jamie, hold onto these will you?”

“Eh? Oh aye.” Jamie took the roots carefully and the group watched as the Doctor went to talk to Mary. 

“So, we are sure he can do this right?” Kevin asked the others and Jamie grinned, “Oh he can do anything, just watch.”

“If anyone can figure this out, it’ll be the Doctor.” Polly added.

“Yeah, no worries mate, we’ll get outta this scrape.” Ben added and threw an arm around Kevin. 

Kevin glanced around the room, things felt so different than they had earlier, with baby Claire surviving and the hunters coming back mostly unharmed, there was a strong air of hope. Kevin was always naturally a bit skeptical of hope, especially when it was so early in the fight, but this moment was worth cherishing. Even if things did end up getting worse at least they had this moment to drive them forward.

Eventually, Mary dimmed the lights again and people settled in for the night. Families slept close together for warmth and comfort. In the morning, Mary and the Doctor had everything planned. Ash was going to take the Doctor, Kevin, Polly and a handful of hunters to the weather control center. The last communication they had had with the center made it sound like there was no attack or even anything strange going on, so the Doctor would have time to use the labs there to make an antidote and install it into the weather machine. The rest of the community would wait in the storage unit they were told it was safe to come out. 

Ash stood in the front of the room with Mary, The Doctor, Polly and Kevin. He ran his hand over his hair before he started, “So, as you can all guess, getting to the shuttle is going to be the hard part. We are going to need all the cover and support we can get. From there, the shuttle only holds 8 to 10 people, tops. Obviously, I have to go and the Doctor asked to have Kevin and Polly there as his assistants which means we can take 4-6 hunters. I don’t care who goes, but we won’t have time to decide out there.”

“I’m definitely going.” Jamie said moving forward.

“Now Jamie,” The Doctor started, but Jamie interrupted him, “Will ye just shut it and let me protect ye?”

The Doctor gave a weary smile, “Alright. Come along then.” With that Jamie grinned and moved up close to him. 

“I’m in too.” Dean said, still holding Claire in his arms. “And I’ll go with you.” Cas said from his side. Dean grinned and leaned over to kiss Cas gently and then down to kiss Claire. “You hear that sweetheart? Your daddies are gonna go save the world for you.” Claire gave an oblivious giggle and grabbed at Dean’s face as he nuzzled against her. 

“Well, I’m going too then, gotta keep an eye on my boys.” John said with a sigh. 

“Then I should go too.” Sam added and Dean looked at him with worry. “Sam, you don’t have to do that. Stay here and help keep Claire and mom safe.”

“He’s right son, we need people here just as much as on that shuttle, if not more. Honestly, we don’t even know if there is going to be a fight over there, it might be best if the rest of you just help us get on that shuttle and then get back here to the storage unit to keep everyone safe. This is where the real fight is.” John added and Sam conceded with a quiet “Yes sir.” 

“Incidentally, a smaller group would make it easier to get the shuttle moving quickly, as well.” The Doctor added. 

“Then that settles it, this’ll be it.” John said firmly. 

“Ben are you alright to stay here?” Polly asked and he shrugged, “Yeah, well, you heard the man duchess, someone’s gotta take care of the home front, eh? Besides, I know when I’m out gunned. I’m a sailor, best leave this fight to people who know what they’re doing in the forest.”

“Alright.” Polly said with worry. 

“Hey now, I’ll be fine, you lot be careful and don’t worry about us, just get that antidote working.” 

“Roger.” Polly said with a playful salute and Jamie looked at her confused, “Why’d you call him that?”, but Polly just waved him off. 

All able bodied experienced hunters geared up. There were more than Kevin expected, he was beginning to think that everyone had at least some training in hunting. 

As Kevin prepared his camera he watched people rush around to prepare for the push through the forest. Cas and Dean gave Claire to Amelia to watch over, Ellen tried to talk Jo out of coming with them, and Bobby and John discussed the plan to get to the shuttle. Charlie was geared up and handing out some fruit rations, Mary was contacting the weather control center, and Jamie was trailing the doctor, insisting he wear armor as well, just in case. 

“Hey.” Sam greeted quietly as he moved into Kevin’s space, “You ready?”

Kevin gave a small shrug, “I guess, my camera is anyway. Not sure how much help I’ll be in there, but at least I’ll get the whole story.” 

“I guess that depends on what story you’re writing.” Sam said as he moved next to Kevin, leaning against the wall just close enough for their shoulders to touch. 

“That’s a good point.” There was more to that comment than what was on the surface and Kevin was more than enough aware of it, but right now he couldn’t think about the article. He just needed to get all the information he could, witness everything and sort it out later, that’s what he did. It was always better to walk away with too much information than too little. 

“But you’re still going, right? A journalist’s duty, or something?” Sam asked somewhat disappointed and Kevin realized he had taken that last comment completely wrong. Sam wasn’t asking about the article he was asking him not to go.

“Yeah, I need to do this.”

“I understand. Be safe out there ok?” Sam said quietly and Kevin nodded leaning close, but unable to look at him, “You too.” They remained in a somewhat unsure silence for what felt like several minutes, but was probably more like 30 seconds. Kevin had no idea where they stood with each other, and he wasn’t sure it would matter in a few hours. What could he say? What would be appropriate? 

“And tell me everything when you get back.” Sam teased in the same curious, warm voice he had used whenever he asked Kevin about his adventures, and just like that it was all like normal again; there was no more almost-about-to-go-possibly-die awkwardness. It didn’t matter where they stood, they were just them like always and maybe for now that was ok. 

Kevin looked over at Sam finally trying to look completely serious, “Do I get a kiss if I come back?”

“As many as you want.” Sam promised, grinning. 

“And hot chocolate?” Kevin asked, struggling to keep his growing smile hidden. 

“Uh huh.”

“Alright, I guess I’ll trade you a story for kisses and hot chocolate.”

“So generous.” Sam teased and leaned forward a bit and Kevin gave a proud, almost cocky, sarcastic smile which Sam quickly wiped away with a kiss. Kevin sighed as Sam’s tongue licked at his lips for entrance and he opened for him pliantly; he let Sam take the lead and moaned as he felt Sam’s long tongue explore his mouth. Kevin felt large careful hands move down his sides, leaving burning hot trails as they went and suddenly his whole body felt warm as it vibrated with want under Sam’s slow touches. 

“Get a room!” Shouted one of Castiel’s brothers, Balthazar Kevin thought, and the two broke apart with quiet laughter. 

“We can pick this up later, when this is all over.” Sam said quietly and Kevin blushed deeply. Did that mean what Kevin thought it meant? It had to right? Sam wasn’t a child. He didn’t just mean kisses right? 

“Uh huh.” Kevin said, his mind still swimming with elicit images of all the possible things Sam could have meant. Sam gave another quiet laugh and left to talk to his brother. 

Charlie ran past Kevin and went up to the Doctor with a large box, “Doctor? Hi, I don’t know if this will help, but these are some samples of all the herbs I grow in the greenhouse. I have some moss and other forest plants in there too. Some of them have healing properties. I figured this is the kind of stuff they might not keep in the lab. I don’t know if it’ll help your antidote, but just in case, right?” Charlie said handing over a large pack. 

“Ah, that sounds quiet helpful actually, thank you.” The Doctor said gratefully taking the box.

“Doctor, you aren’t safe like that, you cannae go out without armor.” Jamie insisted and the Doctor turned to him, “Jamie, I’ll be just fine. Here, take this will you?” 

“Och, aye, fine, but you better stay close. No running off like you usually do, eh?” 

“Fine, fine, yes.” The Doctor waved him off and hurried to Mary to let her know they were ready. With that, everyone was gathered. Some hunters would go out first and clear the way, the shuttle group would go next with more hunters behind them. Once they reached the forest, some of the hunters would try to cause a distraction while the group rode the ropeway up to the landing platform. Easy enough.

Kevin watched as Sam went with the first group of hunters, Ben was going to be with the hunters in the back. Everyone filed out one at a time and seemed to run the minute they got out the door, which made Kevin slightly worried. He had no idea what the village would look like now. He tried to picture it, but nothing got even close to what he really saw when he stepped outside.

The Novak tree had made a thick wall around the storage unit, no wonder things had been quiet. Kevin watched as hunters rushed through small opening in the wall. 

“Alright, stay close and keep quiet.” John commanded. Ash, The Doctor, Polly and Kevin were gathered in the middle with John and Dean ahead of them and Jamie and Cas behind them. Kevin took a shot of the storage unit from the outside and one of the wall as they moved. One by one they slipped through the thin opening in the wall and came out the other side to view the village. Sunlight poured over the quiet smoking village now; the fire was out, the bodies were already rotting, and every building had been heavily damaged or completely destroyed. Somewhere in the back of it all, he could hear the stream, the one small familiar song from when the village had been whole. Now it just sounded like a satire track playing over the ruins. 

“It’s too quiet, where have they all gone?” Jamie asked quietly and Cas prepared his weapon, “Not sure, maybe they moved back into the forest?” 

“Feels like an ambush, if you ask me.” Jamie said quietly and Cas responded with a sigh, “Agreed.”

“Maybe the plan worked and the hunters managed to clear the path?” Polly suggested hopefully. 

“These blood trails look fresh…that’s not good.” Dean said quietly and Kevin looked down to see little puddles of blood gathered here and there along the path and he felt his stomach turn. 

“We had better get a move on.” John said and they picked up their pace. 

The town was still walled for the most part, but some areas had been breached or scorched black, still the fact that there were walls at all meant that there were still many trees trying to protect the village. Of course that comfort didn’t last long. 

As they got closer to the edge of the village, they could hear the sound of battle from the depths of the forest: frequent screams accompanied the sounds of wood crackling and the earth being upturned. 

“Come on. We gotta trust that they’ve got this.” John hurried them along and soon they were running down the path. Every now and then something huge would smash against the wall beside them, making many in the group jump, but they kept going. Kevin felt his lungs burn as they ran, but he forced himself to keep going as he gasped for air. 

As they went further in, they felt the ground tremble beneath them and noticed the wall beside them was shaking from multiple impacts. Then suddenly several large branches reached over the wall and stabbed down at them; Jamie pushed the Doctor and Polly to the ground, covering them with his body while John grabbed Kevin and Ash and pulled them back away from the wall to the other side of the path. Cas moved in front of the group and held up his harpoon to keep the branches back as Dean sprayed some of the acid up at them; they wiggled away, dropping parts of their branches as they went. But without a moment to breath, roots shot up from the ground, tearing the earth apart and grabbing Polly and Jamie. 

Polly screamed and gasped as a root ran around her neck, nearby the Doctor held onto Jamie as the roots tried to pull him away, The Doctor’s feet dug hard into the loosened ground for leverage, but he was quickly slipping.

Cas threw his harpoon and in one perfect show nailed the roots that had Jamie in place so he could slip free, falling onto the Doctor who had been pulling at him. 

John rushed to Polly and carefully dripped acid onto the roots, making sure to avoid her skin. When the roots released her and slipped back into the ground, she coughed and curled in on herself as John pat her back gently. 

Kevin looked around warily, he could hear quiet movement from all around them; it wasn’t over. Cas grabbed his harpoon and stood at the ready, back to back with his husband. Polly and Ash stayed close behind John while Jamie held the Doctor close to his side, hiding them both behind his harpoon. 

Kevin took a couple pictures and on his third one, more roots shot up, grabbed Cas around the neck and slammed him down to the ground head first. Dean turned to react, but a branch swung down and knocked him to the ground. Cas pulled out his knife and began sawing the roots to free himself, but more shot up and wound around his chest. 

Dean tried to get back up, but he was knocked down again with a hard hit to the head that Kevin could hear from across the battle field. Ash and Polly stayed behind John as he knocked branches away with a large hunting knife, but when some roots tripped him the branches beat down on him. Ash and Polly separated to avoid the roots raising from the ground. 

Kevin backed up until he felt the wall at his back and pulled out his bottle of acid, waiting for an open shot, but everything was moving so fast he had no idea where to look or throw. Jamie stabbed at the branches as they came down, but he was quickly snagged by roots that wound tightly around him as if trying to crush him where he stood. The Doctor seemed quite good at jumping away from the roots as they came at him, but that didn’t do much more than distract some of the roots and branches away from the others. 

Kevin looked over the battlefield, with a hopelessness rising in his gut, Dean wasn’t moving, Jamie was gasping desperately as his body was slowly crushed, Cas was wrestling his way free, John was pushing the branches off of him with his knife, the doctor was rushing about trying to get more roots to follow him, Ash had grabbed a lantern from the path and was throwing it over the wall into the forest, and Polly was rolling away from branches stabbing down at her. There was blood everywhere on one of Polly’s legs, Castiel’s face, and a small puddle had formed near Dean’s head. Panic over took him and he had no idea what to do or where to go, his legs locked him in place. 

Kevin shut his eyes and waited for roots to take him, he was frozen and at least if they took him he’d have a reason not to act. But instead of the slithering roots or cracking branches, he heard a battle cry. He opened his eyes and saw Ben’s group of hunters come upon the battle like a vengeful storm; they rained down on the roots and branches, spraying acid when they could and pinning the enemy with their weapons. Ben smacked the branches away from Polly, helped her up, and gave her his hunting knife. Gabriel sprayed acid on the source of the roots that held Jamie, though he did laugh hysterically when Jamie got dropped to the ground by the retreating roots. 

Michael helped Dean up, while Charlie knocked the branches away with a spray of acid. 

“You all get out of here, we’ve got them.” Michael called. At that, Kevin snapped out of his daze and ran towards Ben and Polly, “Polly are you ok? I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok, it cut my leg is all. I’m fine.”

“Come on everyone, move it! We’re out of here!” John called out and headed away from the battle and further down the path. Polly looked at Ben again and pulled him into a tight hug, “You better be careful, I’m serious.” 

Ben grinned and lifted his free arm to pull Polly flush against him, “You too duchess.” She kissed his cheek quickly and grabbed Kevin’s hand, “Come on.” 

Polly dragged Kevin through the battle, dodging branches and roots with help from the others covering them. When they reached their group, John led them down the path at a quick pace.

Soon the noise of the battle behind them faded, but still, everyone remained quiet and alert, waiting for another ambush. 

They continued on like that for what felt like miles, but eventually they came to the customs building, or what was left of it. 

The gondola box from the ropeway that led up to the landing pad had crushed the small building. Kevin glanced at Ash for a plan B, but he just looked at the wreckage in disbelief with his mouth hanging open. 

“They must have torn it down.” Cas theorized as he moved around the back of the remains. 

“Don’t go too far, Cas.” Dean called out, but Cas continued walking. John looked around the wreckage and picked up part of the GPS tracking computer. “Shit. Well, you might as well take those bracelets off.”

Jamie went to take his off and the Doctor motioned for him to stop, “Just in case, hm?” Jamie shrugged and left it alone. 

“Dean!” Cas shouted and Dean instantly bolted to the other side of the wreckage with everyone close behind him. Not far behind where the building had been, were scattered parts of the landing pad leading into the forest. 

“Ok, but where’s the shuttle?” Dean asked and Cas pointed up, everyone followed his finger with their gaze and saw the shuttle caught in the branches of a large tree. 

“The Singer family tree. What the hell’s it doing out here?” John wondered under his breath as he moved forward cautiously. 

“Dad, hold up, we don’t know if it’s poisoned or not.” Dean called grabbing for his dad’s arm, but John pushed him off. “It’s ok. If it were poisoned, it would have broken the damn thing in two, right?” 

“Unless this is another ambush.” Cas added. 

John greeted the tree and it began to shake. John stepped back at that and the group watched cautiously as it sent its trunk up high and then curved over and flattened out into a mock landing pad, sending several support beams down to the ground; when it finished with the landing pad, it placed the shuttle on top, and to finish, it made some small wooden steps up its trunk leading to the landing pad, pushing its branches out of the way.

“Still look like an ambush?” John asked with a grin and Cas looked over at Dean and whispered a low, “Yes.” Dean put an arm around him and pulled him close.

Kevin took a picture of the tree and hurried to help Polly, though she insisted she was fine, it was the least Kevin felt he could do after he froze during the fight. 

The steps were narrow, but stable and the group went up, one by one. Ash went up first and checked the landing pad’s strength and then the shuttle itself while the others got in and waited. After several minutes Ash poked his head into the cabin, “Looks like we are all good to go, boys and girls. Feel free to break into the beers in the back, I feel like this is probably a good time for it. Just make sure to save me a couple alright? And don’t just use them to ice your head, you bloody ‘em up, you drink ‘em. I’m looking at you two.” He pointed to his eyes with his index and middle finger, then pointed them at Dean and Cas who both had blood caked in their hair. 

“Ash.” John warned and Ash laughed, “I’m going, I’m going.” He went and started the shuttle while the others got settled in.

“I hope that was the end of it.” Polly whispered as she leaned against the window. 

“Me too.” Kevin added. 

“Think we’ll be that lucky?”

“Not a chance.”

Polly gave him a weak smile and looked out the window.

The Doctor put Charlie’s herb box on his lap and began going through his supplies while Jamie leaned over his shoulder and asked questions about everything the Doctor handled. Kevin would have found the constant questioning annoying, but the Doctor seemed to enjoy Jamie’s curiosity and explained each thing to him. Kevin wondered why the Doctor would know so much about herbs, but then again there didn’t seem to be anything the Doctor wasn’t knowledgably in. 

“Can’t I just nap on the way there?” Dean asked and Cas shook his head, “No, I know you hate riding on the shuttle, but you got hit pretty badly, you could have a concussion.”

“I’m fine Cas. It wasn’t that bad.”

“Oh?” Cas reached up and tenderly ran his fingers through Dean’s hair, moving towards the back until Dean winced and ducked away, “Ow, dammit, Cas.” 

Cas grinned at him and Dean rolled his eyes, “Ok, I guess, fine. Just, you know, keep me from thinking about it or something?”

“I can do that.” Cas’s teased in a low growl and even Kevin felt it go straight to his cock. 

“You two keep it civilized.” John murmured from the back where he was opening a beer. 

“Hey we are civilized, right baby?” Dean teased, his eyes lowering to Cas’s lips. 

“Very.” Cas responded before pulling him in for a slow passionate kiss. Kevin sighed in frustration and bit his lip to get his body under control as he waited for the shuttle to move. Out the window he could see the village and the moving forest, even the small fire Ash started when he threw the lantern into the forest. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be spreading much yet. Maybe the healing rain would put it out later. That train of thought led Kevin to think about how the first fire was put out. 

Finally the shuttle started to move and pulled Kevin from his thoughts. Dean went rigid in his seat, gripping the armrests. “Shit, I changed my mind, take me back, I want off. This is crazy. I will walk back to storage unit, I’m out.” 

Cas rubbed the back of Dean’s hand soothingly as the shuttle lifted from the shaky wooden platform. 

Dean started to hum rapidly and whisper lyrics to some song Kevin didn’t know. “Not this again, you want a beer, son, will that help?” John offered, but Dean shook his head frantically and kept humming. 

“Dean, Ash knows what he’s doing, everything is going to be fine.” Cas reminded him as they started to finally move forward.

“I know how ye feel, Dean I’m with ye, these metal flying beasties are ridiculous.” Jamie added and the Doctor smiled, “But they are quite handy aren’t they?” 

“Not as handy as the TARDIS, although I guess at least these seem easier to steer, eh?”

“I can steer just fine, thank you.” The Doctor said defensively, closing the herb box and slipping it under his seat. 

“Oh no…” Polly mumbled quietly to herself, “Everyone hold on!” Something smacked against the shuttle, making it shake violently and Dean screamed, “We are gonna die, this is how I die, I knew it. I always knew it.”

“It seems the trees aren’t ready to let us go so easily.” The Doctor said looking out the window. Kevin peered over Polly’s shoulder to see several branches shooting up towards them, but Ash took a hard right to avoid them. 

“Nice driving, Ash!” Polly cheered as Ash pulled up hard to avoid another attack. Dean was trying to unbuckle himself at this point, but Cas held him in place, “I’m gonna make him turn this damn thing around, I’m getting off and so are you Cas, dad too, everyone, we are all getting off of this death trap!”

“It’s alright Dean. Ash can handle this.” Cas pet his back gently. 

The shuttle took another hit knocking it hard to the right and a beeping started going off from somewhere. The Doctor and Jamie clung tightly together as Dean continued to try and escape his seat. John’s beer was knocked from his hand and went spiraling along the cabin, spewing bubbles everywhere. Polly watched out the window as more branches came at them, but Ash pulled up again and avoided them. 

The higher he went the harder it seemed to be for branches to follow, but the shuttle wasn't built for high altitudes. Ash balanced the difference, leaving the plane shaky, but mostly safe from the branches' assault. 

“Just breathe Dean. Think about Claire, when this is all over, we can rebuild the Inn and maybe make a special room for her right next to ours.” Cas suggested as Dean managed to sit still in his seat again, nodding as he tried not to think about how high they were. 

“Yeah, and we can make the dining room bigger?” Dean asked, hardly focused on his own words.

“Sure.”

“Get ourselves a bigger bed?”

“That seems fair. We do barely fit on the one we have now.”

“Well it wasn’t made for two.” John added and Dean rolled his eyes. 

Kevin looked out the window, they were about halfway there and there were still trees moving below. “Do you think Anna knows what we’re doing?”

“She might. That or the poison is spreading naturally somehow.” Polly thought out loud. 

“Not good. If that's the case it could spread over the entire planet.” Kevin acknowledged as he sat back in his seat. 

“As long as we beat her to the weather control center, we will still have a chance to set all of this right.” The Doctor said firmly and Jamie nodded, “Aye and that should be pretty easy, she dinnae have one of these shuttles does she?”

“Doubtful, but if she’s working with Naomi, who knows.” John said, grabbing another beer. 

“She went rogue though.” Kevin added and Polly shrugged, “If they had an underground lab built, who knows what else they’ve got hidden around.”

“I don’t suppose Ash can fly faster?” Kevin asked and Dean gave a moan of disapproval.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only 2 more to go! (Probably)


	11. Stars Hidden in the Branches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle of the Weatcher Control Center.

Frank brought the group into the labs; so far the center remained untouched and they still hadn’t seen any of the ‘crazy trees’ as Frank was dubbing them. John, Dean, Cas, and Jamie went to keep look out while the Doctor, Kevin, Polly, Ash, and Frank prepared to study the poison. 

Kevin watched as the Doctor extracted poison from the roots and gave a sample to each person to work on. Kevin didn’t really know much about chemistry or poisons so he stayed on the side, taking pictures, and helping keep communication flowing between the scientists. 

Polly worked closely with the doctor examining the poison under a microscope while Frank worked to figure out the density of the liquid. Ash began recording the poison’s other properties and looking up anything that matched his results as he went. 

Kevin quickly rushed back and forth between the groups, giving the Doctor as much information as possible. 

“Hm, this part I recognize, but this, this is very interesting. This doesn’t make any sense at all. Oh dear, and that doesn’t look good.” The Doctor spoke to himself as he scribbled on a notepad, his eyes glued to the microscope. Polly snatched a bit of the poison and was trying different experiments to see how it reacted. At the moment she was boiling it. After each experiment she would pass a slide to the Doctor for examination. 

Kevin was in the middle of lining up a shot of Polly working when the building suddenly shook. There was a loud crash of glass breaking somewhere nearby followed by another large shake. 

“Doctor? What’s happening?” Polly asked as she moved close to him. 

“Attention?” A voice rang over the wall speaker.

“Anna?” Polly called out and the voice laughed, “Yes, well done.”

“Shit. Little miss sunshine is hacking into the system.” Frank grumbled as he pushed Ash away from the computer. “The hell I’ll let ‘er get away with that. No way cupcake, not on my watch.” 

Ash rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, moving his legs up to the table, only to have them knocked down by another quake. 

Elsewhere, they could hear the sound of more glass shattering; below them, they could hear the machines began to wheeze and above them, the lights flickered.

“Doctor…” Polly whispered as she tugged on the Doctor’s sleeve, but the Doctor was back on the microscope, “Not now Polly, I think I’ve almost figured out what is in this vile concoction. It is a tricky little thing, a lot of time went into this.”

“It certainly did Doctor. Ah there we go, now I’ve got the cameras, so I can see you. Hi.” 

“I don’t think so.” Frank grabbed a long measuring stick, marched close to the camera and smacked it off the wall. 

“Rude.” Anna complained, but Frank just silently mocked her, mimicking an exaggerated version of her face before sitting back at the computer, typing furiously. 

“What else do you want, Anna? I heard you talking to Naomi, why not just leave? You’ve done what you wanted to do.” Polly shouted.

Anna laughed, “Not quite, but I’m getting there. Unfortunately, most of the other communities don’t seem worried by what happened in Occulta Caelum. Here I thought they’d all be running to sign up for the first ship out of here, but they haven’t even sent for help yet. Can you believe that? Then, I’m wandering around in the forest, doing my work, and what do I overhear? Something about The Doctor working his way to the weather control center to spread a cure. I have to admit that you had a great plan here. But you know I can’t let you stop me now. Earth 2.8 will fall.” More glass shattered and the sound of fighting could be heard in the halls. 

“Wow were you always this much of a buzzkill? Wait, I know the answer to that.” Ash teased.

“Ash you of all people should be on my side here. Don’t you want to be a real pilot? Fly out into space or do something besides just shuttle duty? Think about all the partying too. The sex. The drugs. Chocolate. Everything in abundance. Absolute freedom.” 

“Lady, I already have plenty of freedom.” 

“Ah yes, I think I’ve got it now. Just have to mix up a few things.” The Doctor hummed quietly to himself and bobbed off towards his herb box, grabbing a few things and then looking around at some of the chemical containers in the back of the lab. 

If the doctor needed time, Kevin could get it for him, “What about your family, Anna? What about Samandriel?” Kevin asked.

Anna paused for a moment, “Collateral damage.” Her voice wavered and Kevin knew he had her. 

“You don’t believe that. You want everyone to leave because you want them to be free too. You didn’t poison your family tree because you still love your family. You think you’re doing what’s best for them right? Play the villain to take down the oppressive society and later, after they’ve tasted freedom, you’ll be seen for the hero you really are and be welcomed back to the family. That’s what this is right?”

“You are really reading way too into this, the tree was spared for the sake of superstition and nothing more.”

“Your brother Castiel is here you know, will you just let him die too?” 

“If he gets in the way, yes. You’ll all die if you don’t surrender.”

“What does that mean? What happens if we surrender?”

“Kevin you aren’t from here, neither is the Doctor, or Polly, or Ben or Jamie, you can all just go home. Everyone who agrees to leave this place to rot, will live.”

“How can you hate your home world so much?” Polly asked with a flare of pity.

“Anyone sane would. Living here, we could die any day, just because of a machine failure or a lack of resources. This planet isn’t livable and yet we force it to sustain us. We live the lives of peasants, giving up the chance to grow and evolve like the rest of the universe, just so we can live here like our ancestors did; falling in line, playing good little boys and girls, never really living, just because they tell us to. We do the jobs of those that came before us, we don’t get to be our own people. Not like all of you. You have to understand that. I know you probably came here thinking ‘oh how quaint and mysterious’ or even better, ‘how romantic’. What a joke. You’ve seen how we really are. We’re just stuck in our ways; another bunch of mindless, idiots who crawl around in the mud like animals, when we could be traveling the stars. You see the truth now don’t you? This place is stagnant.”

In the corner of his eye, Kevin noticed the Doctor grounding some of the herbs into a powder, Polly was with him now, mixing several chemicals together. “So help change it, why just destroy it?” Kevin asked, hoping to keep her distracted long enough for them to finish the antidote. 

“It doesn’t deserve-” and with that, Anna’s voice cut out and Frank cracked his knuckles loudly, “That’s better. I always hated her voice. Who let miss squeaky guide tours anyway?” 

Kevin sat watching the Doctor and Polly work, listening to the fighting outside and feeling the tremors that shook the building. At this point all he could do was hand them whatever they needed and hope for the best. 

“The machines look like they’ve taken some damage. I’m gonna head down there.” Ash said, heaving himself from his chair. 

“What the hell are _you_ gonna do ragdoll?” Frank asked, still trying to keep Anna from having building access. 

“Look around? Tinker? Fix everything. We’ll see.” Ash sauntered off towards the door. 

“Idiot. You’ll get killed out there.” Frank shouted, but Ash just shrugged, “You’d never be so lucky.”

“He’s not wrong.” Frank muttered. “Dammit, now she’s going for the doors. At least she’s not dumb enough to try and completely wreck the machines, she’d kill us all instantly.” 

Suddenly, the door burst open and Dean ran in with Jamie barely hanging on to consciousness at his side. “We need some help here.”

The doctor looked over at that and his eyes went wide, “Jamie? No, no, no, what happened? Bring him over here, quickly now.” The Doctor cleared the table and Dean put Jamie on it. There was a large hole near his left shoulder that went clean through. He had massive gashes on his side and deep bruising along his neck that showed where the roots had tangled around him. 

“Jamie? Can you hear me?” The Doctor called as he pulled a pencil thin flashlight from his pocket and checked Jamie’s eyes for responsiveness. 

“Aye.” Jamie whimpered and instantly began to cough up blood. 

“Best not speak then, oh Jamie, what have you gotten yourself into?”

“He saved me.” Dean said quietly, his voice breaking as he spoke, “Pushed me out of the way and took the hit, idiot.” 

“Had to,” Jamie coughed again, “for the bairn.”

Dean cursed under his breath, unable to meet Jamie’s eyes. 

“Now Jamie, I said no talking, let me just take a look here, Polly, Kevin could you two hold him still? Dean, you had better go back out there and help the others.”

“Right, just do what you can, I’ll keep you all safe, I swear.” Dean ran back out and Frank shook his head, “Always was a little dramatic, that one. Quick update, looks like our friend with the ridiculous haircut made it to the machines, I’m actually getting reports of improvement, oddly enough. Now for the bad news, it looks like Anna’s in the building; she’s not alone either, she’s got troops. I can try and lock her out along the way, but it won’t stop her completely.” 

Polly held Jamie’s chest down while Kevin held Jamie’s legs. Kevin could smell the blood and he was trying hard not to gag. The Doctor opened Jamie’s armored shirt and looked around at the wound, poking at it with a long, thin metal tool. Jamie screamed and thrashed, blood spurting from his mouth. “Oh dear, this is much worse than I thought.” The Doctor said sadly. 

“Doctor, you can help him right? You’ve got to.” Polly spoke with a voice barely above a whisper, her eyes glassy with worry. 

The Doctor went silent for a minute, wringing his hands, “Yes…I believe I can do something, but it is going to take quite some time.” The Doctor said somewhat unsure, as if contemplating a way around whatever plan he’d arrived at, but finding himself trapped without options. 

“What about the antidote?” Polly asked. 

“Ah yes, about that. Polly you’ll have to finish it for me.”

“What? But Doctor-“

“You’ll do just fine, Polly. It’s all right there in my notes, just follow that and have Frank help you put it into the machines. Can you do that?”

“Doctor, I…” 

Jamie’s body went limp under their hands and Kevin looked over at them with wide eyes, “Oh my word, he’s gone unconscious, Polly, there is no time to argue, you have to do this, I believe in you.”

“Alright. I’ll do it.” 

“Excellent. Now both of you, work on that table over there, I’ll need space.” 

Kevin helped Polly move everything over to another table and Polly quickly began to list off directions, asking Kevin to hand her various amounts of different herbs and chemicals as she went.

They were only on the third instruction when the lights went out. “Shit.” Frank’s shout was quickly followed by rapid typing, “She’s halfway here and don’t ask me how, but her troops have guns. Needless to say, we are not even remotely equipped to handle that. Harpoons and arrows, sure, but bullets? Not so much.”

Polly’s eyes narrowed as she squinted in the darkness to read the next instruction. “Here you grind this down, while I mix these.” She handed Kevin a small lavender twig with white mold like fuzz on it. Kevin cringed as he took it from her, it smelled like rotted fish and when he started grinding it down it a putrid pink goo came out, adding the smell of rotten eggs. Kevin gave a disgusted sigh and started to breathe through his mouth.

They worked quickly and every door Anna passed, Frank reported it. Then out of the darkness, Kevin noticed a glowing golden light out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw that the Doctor’s hand was shining like there was a brilliant yellow fire burning inside it. The Doctor was leaning over with his face hovering inches above Jamie’s, looking down at him with an intense gaze as he slowly pressed his glowing hand onto the young man’s shoulder. As light drifted from the Doctor’s hand into Jamie, Kevin felt a rush of goosebumps rush up his back. “Time Lord…he’s a time lord.” 

Polly looked up, clearly too focused on her work to notice what was going on, “What?” 

“Nothing.” Kevin lied and went back to grinding the noxious herb, but his eyes continued to frequently flutter up to watch. 

The light continued to pour into Jamie and after a few moments, Jamie coughed and his eyes opened; he looked confused and awed, maybe with a bit of longing mixed, “Doctor?” 

“That’s better isn’t it?” The Doctor said with a dazed hum. 

The light faded and the Doctor collapsed on top of him. “Oi! Doctor?” Jamie called, shaking him, but the Doctor just laid there on top of him. 

“I just need some rest, now. Be a good lad and stop all that squirming won’t you?” The Doctor spoke in a yawn as he let his head rest in the crook of Jamie’s shoulder. 

“Och, Aye I suppose…ye daft old man, what have you gone and done now?” Jamie’s voice was quiet now, barely audible, but Kevin smiled at how he held onto the Doctor tightly with one strong arm as his other hand moved gently up and down the Doctor’s back. He couldn’t be sure if there had been any progress between them, but any doubts Kevin had of the Doctor’s affection for Jamie were flushed from his mind. 

Kevin looked back at Polly, but she hadn’t noticed anything. She held a tube close to her face, whispering a mantra of ‘please’ and suddenly the chemical inside jumped, shooting gummy blue bubbles up the sides of the glass. “Yes! Ok, just that herb essence now.” She looked at Kevin expectantly. 

“Oh, right, here.” Kevin handed it over and Polly poured it in. 

“Now, we just wait until it changes color.” 

“How long will that take?”

“No idea, he didn’t write anything down about that.”

Frank stood up and hurried over, “You need to get out of here. Anna’s just down the hall and you need to not be here when she shows up.”

“What do we do?” Polly asked, holding her tube of bubbling antidote close.”   
“It won’t be pleasant, but there is a vent up there,” he pointed and Kevin and Polly followed his finger automatically, “Go through there and make your way to the emergency stairs on the far end of the building the go to the bottom floor. That’ll take you right to central command. The elevators are all buggy because of Anna’s tampering, so don’t even both with them.” There was a knock at the door. 

“Frank, just make this easy on us. You know I’m going to get in there.” 

“Dammit. Get in there, go. You too lover boy.” Frank said to Jamie who just looked back confused, still pinned under the unconscious Doctor. 

Frank turned back towards the door, “Anna, it’s so nice you decided to stop by on your insane plan to destroy the planet, but we are a little busy in here trying to undo _all the shit you’ve done_.” Frank hollered back as he sat back at his computer and began typing rapidly. 

Meanwhile, Kevin opened the ventilation shaft while Polly found a stopper for the antidote bottle, and Jamie lifted the Doctor into his arms. 

“Doctor? Wake up already, come on.” Jamie said shaking him a bit.

“Jamie, I don’t think that’s going to work. Maybe we should consider hiding him in here somewhere?” Kevin suggested, but it was followed quickly by a loud bang on the door and Jamie held the Doctor closer to his chest, “No way. I’ll pull him through that vent myself if I have to.”

“Well whatever we are going to do we better do it now.” Kevin said as he shuddered at the sound the door starting to give in. 

“Polly, you go first, then Kevin you go, then I’ll push the Doctor in and Kevin you pull him while I push.” Jamie explained and Kevin sighed, shrugging, “Fine, whatever just move it.”

Polly put the antidote in her coat pocket and crawled up into the vent shaft. Kevin had some experience with ventilation systems, after all, sometimes you couldn’t bug certain rooms, but he had never used one for an escape. Part of him wanted to take a few pictures of the experience, but the continuous banging on the door rushed him along. He crawled forward and turned the best he could. The Doctor’s limp, sleeping body was shoved into the vent next, his head smacking into Kevin. 

“Dammit Jamie!” Kevin scolded as one of the Doctor’s hands smacked into his face, but he finally got a firm enough hold on the Doctor to pull him in. Once the body was all the way in, Jamie crawled through next. He was only about halfway in when they heard the door break, followed by gun shots. Jamie looked back out of the vent, then turned to Kevin with wide eyes, “They shot him.”

“Shit. Get up here.” Kevin said quietly, “We need to move, now, Polly, go, take the first turn you see.” 

They crawled quickly now, pushing and pulling the Doctor in a jumble along with them. 

“Ah yes, that’s quite nice.” The Doctor mumbled in his sleep as his foot limply kicked Jamie in the face. 

“Och, I am not letting him forget about this.” 

“The vent is open, they must have gone in there!” Anna’s high pitch scream echoed through the vent. Kevin saw a turn in the shaft ahead, but it was still several feet away and he could hear people rushing around in the room behind them. 

“Polly, faster!” Kevin urged.

“I’m going as fast as I can!” She insisted and continued crawling. Kevin bit his lip tightly, holding his breath as they crawled. A shot was fired and the sound of the blast pulsed through the vent making Kevin’s ears ring, but he continued to move forward. 

Polly quickly turned the corner, followed by Kevin, the Doctor’s body, and Jamie. 

“Did anyone get hit?” Polly asked as she continued to crawl forward.

“No, the Doctor looks ok too.” Jamie responded.

“That was way too close though.” Kevin said quietly, struggling to crawl and pull at the same time. 

They kept going and soon heard Anna’s troops enter the vent as well. 

“Great, I guess she sent them after us.” Kevin said, tugging at the Doctor’s body, Kevin’s arms were aching from exhaustion.

“Just keep moving, we just have to find the emergency stairs.” Polly reminded him.

“Keep taking turns, we don’t want to be in their line of fire.” Kevin suggested and Polly gave an agreeing, though clearly too focused to really respond hum. 

They made their way through the shaft, the building was enormous and after a few turns, they had lost the guards, though they themselves were also technically lost. They made their way looking for the stairs, trying to get themselves further and further away from the room they had started in, but were completely lost as to where they were. 

As they passed another small vent down into a hallway, Polly paused. Kevin had the Doctor sprawled over his shoulders now and with the pause, he immediately took the opportunity to collapse. 

“Did ye find the stairs, Polly?” Jamie asked from the back. 

“No, but I see a floor map. It might be best if we just go down there. I know Anna would probably be able to see us on the cameras, but at this rate we’re never going to find the stairs.” 

“That could work, but what about the Doctor?” Kevin asked.

“I could take him back to the shuttle. Dean and the others might need my help anyway.” 

“We might need your help too though.” Kevin added.

“Well I’m no- leaving him.” Jamie said stubbornly. 

“Of course, not. We would never do that. Jamie, you’re right, you should take the Doctor to the shuttle. Ash should still be down with the machines, he can help me figure this all out.” Polly said, clearly trying to sound sure of herself, but Kevin couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “What about Anna’s guards?”

“We’ll just have to move fast and be careful.” Polly replied, but that plan did not sound even remotely safe. Kevin tried to think of a better alternative way to suggest, but most of them involved leaving the Doctor and coming back for him, which he knew Polly and Jamie would never go for. 

Behind them, they heard scuffling and the vent walls began to shake with movement. “Guards.” Polly whispered. 

“Quick, get us down there, I can deal with them when they come through.” Jamie whispered back. 

“Are you sure?” Polly asked.

“Aye, now hurry up.”

Kevin took a deep breath and lifted himself back up as Polly opened the shaft. She poked her head down to check that the hallway was clear and slipped down to the ground. Kevin went next and then the Doctor was lowered down for the two of them to catch, and finally Jamie followed. 

Polly ran to the floor map while Jamie readied his dirk and quickly surveyed the area. He found an open office space and carried the Doctor inside, then perched in the doorway at the ready to ambush the guards as they came down from the shaft. 

Kevin watched the open vent shaft, expecting a gun to poke through any minute. His entire body grew tense as he waited, outside he could hear the forest moving, above him he could hear banging in the vent, and somehow above it all, hidden in his breath, he could hear his racing heartbeat, which was not even slightly comforting. He was going to die, he could feel it in his gut; this was it. He was going to let everyone down and leave so many things undone and unanswered. He was so caught up in his thoughts that when Polly grabbed his arm, he jumped. 

“Come on, we aren’t that far from the stairs. We can make it.” 

“Alright.” 

Polly stopped near Jamie, “Be careful.”

“You too.” 

And with that, Kevin and Polly ran through the hallway at full speed. Thanks to the spherical building’s curve, they were quickly out of sight from Jamie and whatever guards would eventually drop down, but Kevin kept wondering if Anna was watching them on the cameras. If she was, she didn’t say anything. 

The stairs had been closer than Kevin expected and within minutes they were rushing down them, two at a time, with their hands trailing on the railing, just in case. They heard the sound of gun shots in the distance and both stopped to look back for a brief second. 

“Oh Jamie, we have to hurry.” Polly said quietly and Kevin nodded. 

After going down several stories, they finally made their way to the bottom floor. The door led them into the central part of the building where the giant weather controlling machines were. The machines ranged up to what had to have been 20 floors high, by Kevin’s estimation. Lights danced along them in reds, greens and yellows, and they hummed, chugged, and whined along with the sound of giant fans pushing air around and gears grinding. 

“Ash?!” Polly shouted over the noise as they ran into the room, moving around large control panels and the bottoms of the massive machines.

“Ash where are you?” Polly and Kevin took turns calling out as they circled around the entire floor, but all they found were several dead scientists. Ash was gone, the guards that killed the scientists were gone, and Anna certainly wasn’t there or goading them from the speakers. It was just Kevin and Polly, surrounded by countless unfamiliar machines. 

“What do we do?” Polly asked and Kevin shook his head hopelessly as they looked around, “I have no idea.” They had come so close and gone through so much, but as they looked at the control panels, they had no idea how to proceed.

“Ok, Kevin, go find something to block the doors. I’m going to figure this out. It might take a while, but I am going to do this.” It was something to do and at this point Kevin would do anything that felt proactive and would keep him from thinking about how screwed they were. He rushed back to the door, checked what kind of handle it had, ran to one of the control panels, took one of the only chairs that didn’t have a body in it, and then wedged the chair under the door handle. He followed the walls around the massive area and did the same for 4 other doors. 

Eventually he made his way back to Polly, who was at what looked to be the central control area. She was kneeling next to a woman who was covered in blood, laying on the floor next to another body. Kevin approached slowly and heard the woman speaking between her labored breaths. 

“Ok, I’m going to try it, thank you.” Polly answered and the woman on the ground smiled, “No, thank you. Put a stop to this madness.” 

Polly nodded and looked up at Kevin, “Stay with her?”

“Ok…” Kevin knelt down and looked at the woman, she was clearly one of the scientists that had been working there. She was beautiful, with golden curls, bright eyes, naturally bright pink lips, and a small mole between her eyebrows that seemed to give her character. “Hi.” He said awkwardly and she gave an airy laugh, “Hi.”

He bit his lip and looked down to see her wounds, she had been shot in the side, but it seemed most of the blood on her had come from somewhere else. 

“My friend, he fell on me and took most of the shots. Poor Brady.” She said looking at the body next to her with tears in her eyes. Kevin pursed his lips, took a slow breath, and took off his jacket. He bundled it tightly and pressed it to the woman’s side, right over the gun shot would, trying to slow the bleeding. 

“Thank you.” She said weakly and Kevin shook his head. “What’s your name?”

“Jess.” 

“Nice to meet you Jess. Stay with me ok?” 

“I’m trying.” Jess said with another airy laugh. 

Kevin looked up and watched as Polly worked on the central control panel, then she ran off. “Polly?” Kevin called, but she kept running. He waited, listening to the machines and Jess’s fragmented breathing and then the machines seemed to speed up. The sounds all raced faster and faster and reached an unnerving plateau. Kevin looked around, expecting an explosion, but then Jess started her airy laugh again and he looked down at her for an answer. 

“That’s the sound of rain.” 

Still unsure if the antidote worked or not, Kevin and Polly took Jess from the room and made their way back upstairs. 

Kevin held Jess close as he climbed, and continuously reminded her to keep holding the coat to her wound. 

Polly opened the door for them and followed them into the hallway. There, from the window they could see the rain washing down on the still, quiet forest. Once again, for as far as they could see, there were no openings in the tree line. 

“I think we did it.” Kevin said with a grin and Polly nodded, her eyes shining with joy, “I think so, too.”

“Thank the gods.” Jess added and Kevin took a deep breath, “Ok, so, to the shuttle? Jamie and the Doctor should be there by now, right?” 

“Yeah, at least we can regroup.” 

They made their way to find Jamie and the Doctor, but no shuttle. 

“I swear, it was gone when I got here.” Jamie explained quickly as he stood up to greet them.

“Anna must have left. She had her troops take Ash alive, I saw him escorted out. Maybe she made him fly her out of here.” Jess speculated. 

“Guess that explains why we didn’t have any more trouble from her by the time we got down there, she must have assumed with all of the scientists dead that we wouldn’t be able to do anything.” Polly added. 

“So, we’re trapped here?” Kevin asked.

“If we can get to a communication system, I can ask for another community to bring a shuttle.” Jess offered, “Might wanna hurry though. Getting kinda light headed here.” 

“Well let’s get moving then, we are gonna need that to contact our family back home, too.” Dean said as he stolled up with Cas and John behind him. They were all filthy with dirt and blood, but seemed mostly unhurt.

“Nice work, kids. The minute the rain hit ‘em, the trees went back into place, and they haven’t moved since.” John explained. 

“Hopefully we can still find Anna before she finds a way off planet.” Castiel said quietly, his eyes stared off in the distance as if hoping to spot his sister, “She has a lot to answer for.” Dean put a gentle hand on his husband’s shoulder. 

“Well, let’s find this communication unit and get the hell out of here.” John said firmly and the rest of the group fell in line.

The community near the weather center sent a shuttle immediately and within an hour Jess was in their healer’s cottage being tended to and the others were on their way back to Occulta Caelum. Halfway back, the Doctor finally woke up, though when asked about what happened and how Jamie had been healed, he simply stated that ‘Jamie had an excellent Doctor’. It was more avoidance, but Kevin wasn’t about to out him to the others. If the Doctor didn’t want everyone to know what he was, that was his decision. What with the reputation of the time lords, Kevin could understand not wanting to be associated with them. 

The next few days were incredibly busy, but as they took care of the trees, the trees took care of them; the trees built temporary homes for the people to use until they could import enough supplies to rebuild properly, the community held many funerals fueling the injured trees with nutrients from the lives they’d taken in their sickness, and Naomi had been arrested. Every day the people of Occulta Caelum worked with their trees to clean up their home and every night they slept early, weary with exhaustion. There had still been no word on Anna or Ash which led people to believe she had more than likely made it off planet with the hostage pilot. 

The council was planning to gather for talks about how they should respond to the situation, but there was still much to be done before that talk could happen. New scientists would need to be assigned to the weather control machines and some of those who had retired from the position would need to be called in immediately to train them alongside Jess. Import priorities needed to be adjusted and the forests would need to be combed for damages, bodies, and underground labs. 

Still, the way the communities came together to support one another was beautiful; the other communities sent shuttles full of food and supplies almost every day to help and within the week, a temporary landing pad was made and all the tourists were gathered to go home on time. 

In the lobby of the temporary Inn, all of the tourists that had been relocated to various communities were gathered to return home on the same plane that had brought them there to begin with. 

Mary took the Doctor’s group, Kevin included, aside and thanked them once again for their help. “Truly the Gods provide us with miracles in difficult times, you all were exactly what we needed when we needed it: you all were our miracle. I don’t know how we ever would have made it through all that without your help. Thank you again and know that you are always welcome here.”

“Why thank you Mary, we were glad to be of service.” The Doctor said shaking her hand rapidly.

Dean pulled Jamie into a hug, patting his back a couple times, “It was good to meet you, Jamie. Thanks again, you know, for saving my life out there.”

“No don- thank me, you just take care of that wee bairn of yours, and Cas too. Though I dinnae think he needs it.”

Dean glanced to the doorway to the dining room where Cas was bouncing Claire in his arms, singing quietly to her, “Yeah, he’s probably more likely to be the one taking care of me,” Dean said with a blissful laugh before pulling Jamie closer and lowering his voice a bit, “And hey, good luck with, you know, that whole mystery man thing. I’m telling you, if it’s who I think it is, just talk to him.”

Jamie smiled a bit shyly, a light pink rising on his cheeks, “Maybe I’ll try when we get home.”

“Kevin?” Kevin’s attention was snatched away from the scene as he turned around to find Sam standing there with his sad puppy dog face. Since they’d been back, they’d gotten to work together on a lot of small projects like gathering healing herbs with Charlie, clearing out rubble in big work groups, and handing out food with the rest of the Campbells, but they hadn’t really had any time alone to talk about what had happened between them. Or maybe they hadn’t made time because they weren’t sure what to say? Maybe it was all just bad timing, or maybe Sam had just been influenced by the adrenaline of his whole world collapsing around him. Either way, there hadn’t been much beyond flirting, stolen glances, and quick brushes of hands. Now Kevin was going home and the fantasy was over. This would just be another missed chance, another glance at something that could have been, but was ultimately not in the cards for Kevin Tran. 

“Hi Sam.” Kevin managed, though the words were heavy. He was unsure of what to say, so he waited for Sam to say something. 

“I’m gonna miss you. I know you don’t approve of what I’ve decided to do with my life, but I made this for you so you’ll remember me, I guess. That probably sounded really lame, but I’m just really glad I met you and I wanted to give you something.” Sam held out a small wooden glassless picture frame engraved with intricately carved trees and cottages. Kevin ran his fingers over the lines and imagined Sam staying up late after working so hard every day just to carve it for him and he felt tears build in his throat as his eyes went glassy. He knew that he would never be this close to love again, on New Earth it just wasn’t possible for him. It wasn’t possible now either, but knowing that he had met someone as perfect as Sam and actually managed to get that person to care about him, was something that Kevin couldn’t even begin to comprehend. 

Kevin felt a tear slip down his cheek as images of curling up with Sam to read and drink hot chocolate in front of the fire slipped away from him. 

“Kevin…” 

“I uhm, I don’t think I have a picture of us together. Not one good enough for this frame anyway. We should take one.” 

Sam managed a small smile at that as he nodded. Kevin grabbed his camera and went to Polly with tears still building in his eyes, “Polly can you,”

“Of course. Go ahead and dry those eyes.” Polly whispered as she took the camera. Kevin stood next to Sam and Sam put an arm around him to pull him close. Kevin felt warmth spread through his body and collect in his chest. Sam’s arms felt like home and this was the last time he would ever have them around him. Polly took a couple pictures and Kevin wasn’t sure if he had smiled or blinked or what his face had done, but without thinking, he turned in Sam’s arms and pulled him down for one last kiss. 

The kiss tasted like tears, but Kevin’s entire body shuddered and ached with longing. Inside his head, all he could hear was the word love. This was love, that fabled feeling that the world wrote endless stories and songs about, this is was what the big deal was about. His throat felt tight and he could feel his tears spilling from his cheek and chin down to the floor, but he held onto Sam as tightly as he could for that one moment.

From tomorrow, Sam would keep helping rebuild his community, he would go back to being Bobby’s apprentice, and marry a nice boy or girl that was raised under the trees of Earth 2.8 just like he was. Maybe someone sweet and smart like Jess or someone more familiar like one of Cas’s many brothers and sisters. Either way, Sam would be happy. He’d have his parents, Dean, Cas, and now baby Claire, he’d have his community, and his festivals and his place in this mysterious world and Kevin would simply go back to work. He would sort through their pictures, pick a story and publish it. He’d visit his mom on the weekend, maybe get laid in a club bathroom here and there when he could spare the time, get sent around the universe to keep collecting new stories, and eventually, if he was lucky, maybe he’d forget about Sam, because this was too good for him. 

When they let go Kevin gave a quick embarrassed smile as he wiped his face clear, “Goodbye Sam. I hope you have a good life.”

Kevin couldn’t meet Sam’s eyes as he went to Polly to take his camera back. “You too, Kevin,” was the last thing he heard from Sam though he could feel the man still watching him. 

Polly put an arm around Kevin as they went along with the tour group, led by Gabriel. He couldn’t look back at the temporary Inn or take any final pictures as they walked down the path one last time towards the temporary customs building. All he could do was take one step at a time and hold on tight to Polly. 

“You alright mate?” Ben asked as they filed in line between families with grown children, disillusioned lovers, scientists and nature enthusiasts who may have lost some enthusiasm, and old women who were already gossiping about demanding a refund. 

“I will be.” Kevin said honestly, no matter how much it hurt, Kevin knew he’d be ok in the end because he always was and because he had to be. 

“Hey, you know what else you haven’t gotten a proper picture of?” Polly said leaning towards Kevin at his other side. 

“What?” 

“All of us, together. Come on, let’s take it before we head back.” Polly said tugging at his arm. 

“Alright. Let’s do it.” 

Polly gathered the group together and asked one of the grown children to take the picture. The group clung tightly together like they had known each other forever, and each member had a bright smile as if the trip had been completely normal. This was a picture Kevin knew he would look at many times throughout his life. These ridiculous, mysterious stowaways had somehow become the best friends he had ever had and he wasn’t ready to think about missing them or saying goodbye yet. After all, he had hours of Jamie kicking his seat to look forward to. At least this time, he’d be able to tell Jamie to stop. 

As they went through customs, their tracking bracelets were removed and refunds were issued, much to the delight of the gossipy older women, in the hopes that the stories of what happened wouldn’t get out and scare away other potential tourists or hurt the debut of“Beneath the Eternal Shade”. 

Then they were loaded onto a wooden platform that rose to take them up to the temporary landing platform where their shuttle was waiting to take them back to New Earth. Kevin finally got up the courage to look back towards the village as they were slowly raised towards the tree line. It looked a lot different now, but not entirely: the buildings were simpler, but the people still moved along the path to do their business. Lanterns once again lined the path and were spread amongst the trees like thousands of stars, hidden in their branches. However, the trees’ ornaments were gone; they were still in mourning. 

Everyone closed their eyes tightly when they lifted above the tree line and slowly let their eyes adjust.

“Alright, step carefully and what not, hope you had a great time or whatever, I bet it was exciting right? Make sure to tell your friends. You know, the good parts and come back and see us sometime.” Gabriel waved unenthusiastically as everyone loaded their suitcases under the shuttle and got on. 

Kevin took his seat in front of Jamie and the Doctor, across from Ben and Polly. It felt strange now though, like a whole lifetime had gone by since he’d first gotten on that plane. For the few weeks he had been here, Kevin had gotten everything he’d ever wanted. His work had been successful, he had friends and a big family, he’d been in love, had adventure, and lived in a place where people cared about and truly knew one another. He’d lived in the endless darkness and tasted its fresh air, water, and food. He’d loved it, but he didn’t belong there. 

As the shuttle moved away from the fir covered planet, Kevin couldn’t help but think of it as pure. More than mysterious or romantic, even with everything that had happened, the place was pure. He’d add that in his article. 

Once everyone settled in for the trip, Kevin began to look through his pictures and Polly came to sit beside him. Ben, Jamie, and the Doctor looked at the pictures as well from their seats. At the end, The Doctor handed him a USB drive and Kevin copied the pictures of the group over, so they could have copies. Kevin was going to miss them, he’d miss sharing a room with Ben and being woken up by Polly. He’d miss Jamie’s fearless loyalty, and the Doctor’s curious brilliance. He’d miss going to the hot springs in the morning with them and settling in for Dean’s cooking at night over a few beers. He’d miss Cas’s violin playing and the ease that everyone seemed to fall into before bed. And of course, he’d miss talking to Sam.

The trip home went much faster than the trip to the planet had been, and certainly faster than he’d wanted it to be. When they landed and grabbed their bags, Kevin met with the group. The landing station was high above the smog, but the sky above was still gray, whether with clouds or pollution, Kevin wasn’t sure and he tried hard not to think about. 

“It’s so noisy, I hadn’t realized just how noisy until now.” Polly said with a laugh as she looked around at the nearby stream of cars, flying above them. 

“Yeah, well, we are back in the big city, eh? Guess we better get moving on though, right Doctor?” Ben said looking at the Doctor.

“Yes Ben, I believe it’s time for us to move on.”

“You do remember where you put the TARDIS right?” Jamie teased and the Doctor’s brows narrows, “Of course I do.” His eyebrows seemed to go loose with realization, “It was uhm, beneath a large statue of a cat.”

“Oh right, the cat nurse! I remember the cat nurse!” Ben said laughing and Polly shook her head, “Of course you do.”

“Hey, what are you trying to say duchess?” 

“Nothing. Let’s go then. Kevin it was so nice to meet you, I’ll miss you.” She pulled him into a hug. 

“Me too, are you sure you have to leave so soon? We could get dinner or something if you wanted.” 

“No, I’m afraid we had best be going.” The Doctor said sadly.

“Ok, well at least let me drive you to your ship.” Kevin insisted.

“That sounds great. I’ve been wanting a ride in one of these babies.” Ben said excitedly. The group followed Kevin to where his car had been parked for the month and they loaded their bags in the back and crowded inside. 

Ben sat up front and asked a thousand questions as Kevin drove them to the hospital. Jamie on the other hand was clinging to the Doctor every time they took a deep turn and Polly was pointing out different interesting signs or buildings. Most of which, Kevin realized, he had no idea about, even though he’d lived in this area for years.

Kevin parked the car and walked them to the statues in the front of the building where they found a big blue box that Kevin had never seen before. He was just starting to read what was on it when the others planted their bags in front of it. 

“Here we are, then. It was very nice to meet you Kevin. Good luck with your article.” The Doctor offered his hand and Kevin shook it confused. 

“You too Doctor, but, that isn’t your ship is it? It’s so small.”

“You’d be surprised, she is definitely more than meets the eye.”

“Oh Kevin, I wish you could come with us. Take care of yourself.” Polly said hugging him tightly. 

“You too Polly.” Kevin said into her hair as he hugged her. 

Jamie came in to shake his hand next, “Maybe we’ll see you again sometime.”

“That would be great. I mean, we could keep in touch or something?” Kevin said, trying not to sound too desperate. 

“That might be a bit tricky, mate. But we’ll look you up if we’re in the area again.” Ben said offering a hand, Kevin took it and was instantly pulled into a hug. “And mate? Don’t work too hard, it’s not worth it.”

Kevin relaxed into the hug, “Thanks Ben.” 

With that his friends piled into the small box, as he waved them off. He expected the box to join the row of cars nearby, but instead it began to wail and shake. A light on the top began to go on and off like a siren and in moments, the box disappeared. Kevin’s eyes went wide as he looked around to see if it had just jumped quickly into the sky, but it was completely gone. 

And just like that, Kevin’s life returned to normal and nothing was left but the sound of the busy city around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter left!


	12. Morning Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin's life returns to normal

After Kevin’s return to New Earth, he spent the first several weeks locked away in his apartment, going through his pictures and debating on what story to write for his article. He knew that revealing the truth of what Anna had done could have a detrimental effect on the economy of Earth 2.8 when they needed stability the most. At best, it could attract the attention of other planets in their system to offer charity and donations, but they would most likely lose money in royalties and tourism, which would mean they would lose long term sustainability. 

Even though the story would no doubt give his career a massive boost, and get him the raise and attention he’d been after, Kevin couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he published the wedding piece. The article described wedding ceremonies on Earth 2.8 and shared Dean and Castiel’s story with the world. 

Despite being the safe route, it was exactly the type of story the movie label had wanted. The success of the article with the client and backed by the increase in sales that week, made Kevin’s boss particularly happy with him and Kevin managed to get his raise after all; though it was probably not as much as he could have potentially had with the other story. 

To celebrate, he took his mom to see “Beneath the Eternal Shade”, the movie his article helped promote. Knowing that a tiny bit of his ticket price would go to help his friends rebuild their home made it worth sitting through anything, even what was likely to be a cheesy romance movie. 

The movie turned out to be a lot different than what he had imagined, especially after having actually experienced life on Earth 2.8 

It was a fantasy story that began when a woman’s ship crash landed on Earth 2.8 due to some unexplained mechanical failure. After months of no contact and no help from the authorities, her husband went out on a quest to find her. He sold everything they had to get a ship and then he followed along the same trip that led to her crash, learning more about her secret life as a smuggler along the way. By the time he got to Earth 2.8 he found out that she has been taken by the mire colossus, a terrible beast that has been haunting their forests for hundreds of years. The man then trained with the people of the planet and then went off into the forest alone, for some reason, to find his wife. Of course, he battled the mire colossus and won, but the big twist ending was that she had been turned into the mire beast by some forest fairies. Unable to forgive himself for killing his wife, he kills himself in a scene Kevin could only describe as a hyperbole of romantic tragedy. At the end, the people of Earth 2.8 built statues to the lovers in the spot where they died and thus they ‘lived forever after in the eternal shade’, hence the title of the movie. 

Normally, Kevin would have found the whole thing insanely cliché and a little obnoxious, but the minute he heard mire colossus, he was done for. All he could think about was the old book Sam had shown him about the hunter going off to fight the colossus. Kevin wondered what Sam would think of the movie, not that he’d ever see it, but would he be insulted that his culture had been parodied so poorly? Or would he find it funny or maybe cute? Or maybe he’d be so done with stories of the mire colossus that he would just walk out of the theater to go see something else. Or maybe Sam liked cheesy romantic tragedies. Not like it mattered anyway. 

After the movie, Kevin and his mom went to get dinner at a classy seafood place nearby on the upper level. His mom loved the place and they almost always ate there when they went out together. 

Over the months since his return, Kevin found himself sticking even more closely to familiar things like familiar bars, restaurants, and habits. He had been hoping to hear from the Doctor’s group, but he hadn’t gotten anything from them and he was finally convinced that he most likely never would. 

Sometimes he would imagine getting off work and meeting them at some little pub in the lower levels for beers or inviting them over for dinner parties at his apartment, but those ideas were nothing more than impossible daydreams. Still, he liked to think about how different life could have been with them around, too bad Kevin had just never been that lucky. Instead, his only human contact was with the piranhas he worked with, occasion sex-obsessed nameless club men, and his mother. 

“So? How realistic was it? Did it at least look right?” Linda asked as she snapped her wooden chopsticks apart. 

Kevin shrugged, “Well, the forest looked pretty good, but it is kinda hard to mess up a forest. The community didn’t look anything like the one I visited though. Maybe the other communities look different or something, I don’t know mom. Spending a couple weeks somewhere doesn’t exactly make me an expert”

“Wow, touchy. Maybe this was a bad idea, it’s clearly too soon for you to talk about it.”

Kevin stared at his spicy shrimp plate and shrugged, “Yeah maybe.” 

Linda sighed and set her chopsticks down on the rim of her plate, “Kevin, honey I get that you had a really great time, but you have to move on. It’s been months now. That wasn’t your life, it was just a job like any of the others, this is your life and if you keep trying to ignore it, it isn’t going to get any better.”

Kevin remained silent for a minute and then met her eyes, “What should I do?”

“For one? I would think covering your apartment with pictures of all those people you are never going to see again isn’t helping. You need to take the pictures down, go out and meet new people here: people who you can actually talk to and spend time with. If you want I can ask around, maybe get you set up on a blind date or something?”

“What? No. Definitely not.” 

“Kev, you can at least try it. If nothing else, maybe you can make some friends that way.” 

“I’m fine. Let’s just forget it.”

“Really? Because you haven’t seemed fine since you got back. I’m halfway to figuring out how to talk to that boy’s mother.”

Kevin looked at her in disbelief and then cracked a smile, he knew his mom would do anything for him, “Sorry. I know I’ve been caught up in all this and I know how stupid it is. I just, really liked life there, sure it could use some adjustments, but it was a good place full of good people. Maybe I just need to get another off-world assignment, spending some time in a new place with new people could do me good, get my mind off things.” 

“That sounds reasonable. I just want you happy, you know that, right Kev?”

“Yeah I know mom.”

She reached over the table and pat his hand gently before picking up chopsticks again to finally dig into her meal. 

They finished eating and Kevin drove his mother home before heading to his apartment. Kevin kept his place immaculately clean, except for his desk, and his laundry, and sometimes the kitchen sink. Overall Kevin had lower standards for immaculately clean than everyone else seemed to. 

He walked in, tossed his suit jacket on the couch and moved to his glass desk. He looked at the frame Sam had made for him and the picture of them inside it, then over to the plainly framed picture of him with the Doctor’s group, and another picture of the Campbells meeting baby Claire. 

He knew having them out like this was a bad idea, his mother was obviously right, but he couldn’t bare not to look at them. He wanted to remember that there had been people who loved him and welcomed him in without a second thought. He wanted to remember that somewhere in the universe, love and warmth were still real, even if he couldn’t have a part in it. 

In the end, he left the pictures up, but he did manage to get a job off-world for 2 months, gathering research for a story on illegal underground Ood trafficking. The story sent him to several different planets and was intrinsically complex. He had to wade through dozens of leads and possible suspects, work with multiple teams of detectives, and interview countless witnesses and victims, so needless to say, he had very little time to think about the people he missed. By the time he got home, he was exhausted both physically and mentally. He immediately collapsed on his large bed and fell asleep before he could even get under the sheets. 

He had only been asleep for a couple hours when there was a knock at the door. Kevin whined and put his pillow over his head, trying to ignore it, but the knocking just got louder. With a sigh of irritation he pulled himself from his bed; his shirt was now only half tucked in and at some point he had apparently undone his belt, and he was sure his hair was a complete mess, but that is what people get when they come over unexpectedly. 

Kevin opened the door, ready to give an aggressive ‘What?’ to whoever had so rudely woken him up, but when he saw the person standing there his mouth dropped open unable to say anything at all. Dressed in black slacks and a plaid button up shirt, with eyes of gold and green, and the warmest smile anyone could ever even imagine, was the person Kevin missed the most, the person he never thought to see again. 

“Hi Kevin.” Sam beamed with excitement and Kevin just stared at him in confusion. Had he been drugged? Was he still asleep? Was this some kind of trick? 

Sam’s smile faltered a bit, “You are probably really confused, but I can explain, I promise. It might be better if we sat down or something though, so uhm, could I come in?” 

Kevin nodded and moved to the side to let Sam in, though he was still unable to process what was happening. Sam walked in and looked around in awe, when his eyes narrowed on the pictures decorating Kevin’s desk his smile only grew wider as his eyes softened. 

Finally able to articulate himself, Kevin asked, “Sam, what are you doing here? How are you here?”

Sam looked back at Kevin and scratched at his neck a bit in embarrassment, “Well, a month after you left, the council got together to talk about how they should react to what Anna did and they decided that from now on, there should be a new role in every community. They are calling the people who take that role students.” Kevin looked at him still completely confused as Sam continued, “They decided that each student would be sent off planet to attend school and learn new ways to help our community improve. New Earth even decided to support our efforts by actually paying for the students to attend the university here.”

“So, you are…?” Kevin couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence, afraid to jinx anything. 

“Yeah, my mom nominated me for our community, so I’m here to go to school.” 

“For how long?”

Sam grinned, “Anywhere between 4 to 8 years, maybe 9.”

Kevin suddenly felt a giant weight lift from his shoulders and he finally managed a smile as his mind fought between hope and disbelief, “That’s…” Kevin started, but all he could do was give an airy laugh as he felt his throat tighten. 

“I know. I was so excited to see you and tell you about everything that I ended up coming early. Unfortunately, when I got here, your work told me that you were out on assignment." 

Kevin’s eyes widened, “What? When did you get in?”

“A month ago, I had no idea what to do, but your company told me when you’d be back and they gave me your mom’s contact information, so I’ve actually been staying with her for the last month. That’s how I got these clothes.”

“What?! Wait, back up, I talked to mom while I was gone, she didn’t say anything.”

“We thought it would be better if we didn’t distract you from your work, besides, I wanted to surprise you.” 

“Well, consider me, really, really surprised.” Kevin said slinking down into his couch trying to process everything. 

Sam walked over to sit down beside him, “Your face is pretty amazing right now, but I’m starting to think surprising you wasn’t the best way to go. This is all a little much, isn’t it?” 

“It’s not, I just, have you ever wanted something so bad that when you finally got it you had no idea where to even start? This is like that.”

“Hm, well I know where we could start.” Sam teased and Kevin looked up at him curiously. “I need a place to live. I mean I could live in the dorms, but I don’t know if I could handle the isolation, being separated from my family is already weird enough, I figured if at least I could be here with you, it wouldn’t be so bad.”

“You want to move in together? That… is not where I thought you were going with that.” Kevin felt dizzy from the constant whiplash.

Sam laughed catching his meaning and he crawled onto Kevin’s lap, pressing his long legs on either side of Kevin to avoid crushing him. Kevin’s eyes widened and he quickly moved his hands to Sam’s sides, feeling his warmth made him unconsciously whimper. 

“You don’t have to say yes, I just thought it might be nice. My university isn’t far, and we could spend our nights together, you working on an article, me writing an essay, cooking together, exploring the area together-”

“This place isn’t that big, I only have one bed, Sam.” Kevin interrupted quietly, as if afraid to even say anything, but if this was going to happen he needed to know what Sam wanted. Everything Sam had just described was everything Kevin had wanted, but he wasn’t sure he could handle the prolonged tension and uncertainty for that long. He needed to know this wasn’t a game or a misunderstanding. 

But Sam didn’t even have to think before he answered, “I figured.” His eyes lowered, but his smile never faltered as he ran his fingers up Kevin’s chest. Kevin leaned back into the couch and gave a cracked moan. 

“Sam, are you trying to seduce me into saying yes?”

Sam gave a quiet laugh under his breath as he leaned forward, his hair gently touching Kevin’s cheeks as he leaned over him, “Maybe. Is it working?”

Kevin grinned and moved his hands down to the bottom of Sam’s shirt and slipped his fingers underneath before moving them back up, feeling every muscle and bone hidden under his soft skin, “You do make a pretty good argument.” Sam gave a pleased hum as he leaned back a bit, giving Kevin’s hands space, but also pressing himself down onto Kevin’s lap. 

Kevin instantly felt heat spread through his body; Sam was even more beautiful than he remembered and his warmth felt so perfect in his arms, he wasn’t sure what he did to deserve this, but he was immediately overcome with love and fear. Something in the back of his mind kept whispering that he must still be asleep. 

“I missed you.” Sam’s words pulled Kevin away from his thoughts and in that moment he gave in to the love and pushed back the fear as he moved his hands to Sam’s back, pulling him in for a kiss. 

The kiss heated quickly as Sam cupped Kevin’s face and pulled him in closer so he could explore further with his tongue. In retaliation, Kevin tugged gently at Sam’s hair, moving his fingers through it to get a good grip. Sam moaned and pushed harder down on Kevin’s lap. 

The minute Kevin felt how hard Sam was, he stopped the kiss and pulled away, Sam looked at him horrified that he’d done something wrong and Kevin couldn’t help but laugh, “I was just going to say, we should take this to the bed. I don’t know what your endgame plan is here, but whatever it is, I kind of want to take my time.”

Sam’s horror melted into a light blush and a smile that radiated love and trust, “That sounds good.” 

In their bed, Kevin spent hours worshiping every part of Sam he could get his hands on, and in turn Sam explored and experimented to see what Kevin liked. By the time Kevin pressed into him for the first time, Sam already felt like home. 

As the dusty morning light pierced through Kevin’s window, he shuddered awake. He and Sam were still naked and their limbs were endlessly tangled. Kevin carefully tugged at the disarrayed sheets and covered them the best he could. Sam gave a quiet hum of pleasure and his eyes blinked open, and that’s when Kevin finally saw Sam’s beautiful sunflower, nebula eyes lit by natural morning light; they were even more beautiful than he had imagined and every muscle in his body shivered with need as his heart practically burst with joy and love. He didn’t care about the raise anymore or the busy city around him, he knew in that moment he’d follow Sam anywhere. 

“Good morning.” Kevin said quietly moving in for a kiss as Sam further tangled them together under the sheets.

“How do we turn off the sun?” Sam asked between lazy kisses. 

“We could close the shutters.” Kevin responded as Sam pulled him on top of him. 

“You’d have to get up to do that, though.”

“Yup.”

“Never mind then. Not worth it.” 

Although he started his adventure merely looking for pictures to promote a movie, much like the Androzani trees, perhaps Kevin Tran had been pulled to Earth 2.8, or Aridius, as it was originally called, for something far more important. Perhaps, the lost, the romantics, the tired, the lonely, the adventurers, and yes, even the gossips, are all really drawn there to remind themselves of what is really important. Then again, is it really fate when the hungry find food? Or is it just that they were looking for it all along? 

Either way, Kevin Tran had found what he had truly needed. He never met the Doctor again, although unbeknownst to him, his friends had attempted to visit him, they had just unfortunately landed a few hundred years too early, when the Macra were more than just simple creatures in the shadows. Still, he would always remember them and wonder about them from time to time, but he remained satisfied with the belief that wherever they were, they were continuing their adventures, as we all must do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to everyone who stuck through this with me <33 This was a lot of fun and I hope you all enjoyed it.


End file.
